A Heroine of 1812: A Maryland Romance

It's 1812, and Baltimore bristles with war fever. Lettice Hopkins has made her home in the city, but when her uncle fails to return from Boston longer than any letter can explain, she finds herself drawn into the tensions crackling through every tavern and drawing room. British warships prowl the Chesapeake. Her neighbors argue over trade blockades and British impressment. And in the shadow of approaching conflict, Lettice must decide what kind of woman she wants to be. Blanchard renders early 19th-century Baltimore with the intimate knowledge of someone who walked its streets. Lettice is no simpering heroine waiting to be rescued. She thinks for herself, tends to the suffering families of captured sailors, and refuses to let war reduce her to mere worry. Her developing relationships, her uncle's mysterious absence, and her quiet aspirations for independence weave together in a romance that feels as fresh as the morning papers everyone argues over. The stakes are personal and political, intimate and sweeping.