The Fall Line is based upon a 1676/77 popular uprising in Colonial Virginia known as 
Bacon’s Rebellion. Historians have wrestled with the causes and consequences of the Rebellion for 350 years. Thomas Jefferson saw the revolt as a precursor to the American Revolution; recent historians have seen it as a personal vendetta between a spoiled young aristocrat (Nathaniel Bacon) and a competent Royal Governor (Sir William Berkeley) whose grip was slipping from the helm of state.
Whatever one’s interpretation, one thing is true: the upheaval caused by Nathanial Bacon brought down the Royal Governor and plunged Virginia into chaos. King Charles II sent a fleet and 1000 soldiers across the sea to bring order to the Old Dominion. By the time the troops arrived Bacon had died of natural causes and Berkeley had put down the rebels, but the Colony was a shambles.
The Fall Line tells the story of Nat Bacon and his wife Elizabeth Duke Bacon (“Lyn”) as they begin their ill-starred married life in England, emigrate to Virginia, and then are caught up in circumstances beyond their control. Nat does not survive the debacle, but Lyn does, and she and her daughter Mary ultimately find a safe haven.
The Fall Line has received a five-star rating on Amazon. Reviewers have called it “compelling,” “a piece of history that jumps off the page” and “a great read.” One reader “could not put the book down.” The book received a favorable review from the Historical Novel Society which noted its “well-developed characters” and “fine sense of place.”
Readers may purchase The Fall Line through one of these links:
The Fall Line is the first in a proposed series set in Colonial Virginia during the years 1650 – 1750. The second book, which is still in manuscript, covers the years 1680 – 1706 and moves some of the minor characters in The Fall Line to center-stage. The third book (1706 – 1712) is in the concept stage.
Living, as I do, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, I have been given the opportunity to write a factual history of a Piedmont plantation situated not far from my home. The booklet, entitled Pharsalia: An Antebellum Plantation, will appear soon.