The slums of Eades Alley offers little to the lovely and
almost always hungry sixteen year old Anne, so when she saw
the sign "Girl Wanted", her hunger drove her in the door of
that notorious place. With her father deadly ill and too
many other children at home, Anne sets out to work at the
Penny Pot Tavern near the riverfront in Philadelphia. The
small scraps of food she is able to bring home often are
more than her wages, so when the handsome gent who likes
to show her little experiments in the tavern offers her a
half crown sterling to go upstairs, the thoughts of how
many meat pies it would buy has Anne eagerly following up
behind him.
While they both enjoy these short visits up the stairs, the
young Ben Franklin has already made a commitment to
another. As he often touts, "I am monogamous, but not
celibate". In 1723, he had lodged with the Read family and
soon had a strong relationship going with their daughter
Deborah. Then, a wonderful opportunity arose. Ben is
being sent to London, but Deborah's mother would not allow
the young lovers to marry. Would he ever come back for her?
From his humble start as a printer's apprentice to the top
echelons of colonial America, Sally Cabot masterfully
paints a very vivid and compelling look at the more
private and personal side of this famous and multitalented
statesman and inventor who became one of the founding
fathers of the United States. While official biographies
focus on and laud Franklin's many roles from publisher to
negotiator and then to political leader, BENJAMIN
FRANKLIN'S BASTARD takes you right into the heart of his
life and presents a very human and fascinating portrayal
not only of him as well as of the times. Reading it is
really like seeing it directly from the eyes of the women
he loves, from his friends, and most importantly from the
perspective of his son, William Temple.
Based soundly on her extensive and meticulous research
and covering a time period critical to American history
from 1723 to 1777, Sally Cabot (aka Sally Gunning) sets out
a highly credible fictional account to respond to
questions, such as why Ben's common-law wife would accept
his bastard child in their home, why the name of
William's mother became such a guarded secret, and why Ben
and his son end up with such divided loyalties. While we
may never truly know the answers to these long lingering
questions, Cabot, as a literary mid-wife, very
successfully delivers truly human historical characters
that are so alive and vital, both in their physical
descriptions as well as in their psychological
motivations, you just have to keep turning the pages to
find out what happens to all. This is truly a compelling
and fascinating book that an historical fiction fan would
not want to miss!
An absorbing and compelling work of literary historical
fiction, set in colonial Philadelphia, that brings to life a
little-known chapter of the American Revolution—the story of
Benjamin Franklin and his bastard son, and the women who
loved them
Sixteen-year-old Anne is an uneducated serving girl at the
Penny Pot tavern when she first meets the commanding
Benjamin Franklin. The time she spends with the brilliant
young printer teases her curious mind, and the money he
provides keeps her family from starving. But the ambitious
Franklin is committed to someone else, a proper but
infatuated woman named Deborah Read who becomes his common-
law wife. At least Anne has William, her cherished infant
son, to remind her of his father and to soften some of
life's bleakness.
But growing up a bastard amid the squalor of Eades Alley
isn't the life Anne wants for her only son. Acutely aware of
the challenges facing them, she makes a heartbreaking
sacrifice. She will give up William forever, allowing
Benjamin and Deborah Franklin to raise him as their own.
Though she cannot be with him, Anne secretly watches out for
her beloved child, daring to be close to him without
revealing the truth about herself or his birth, and standing
guard as Deborah Franklin struggles to accept her husband's
bastard son as her own.
As the years pass, the bustling colonies grow and prosper,
offering opportunities for wealth and power for a talented
man like William's father. Benjamin's growing fame and
connections as a scientist, writer, philosopher,
businessman, and political genius open doors for the astute
William as well, and eventually King George III appoints
Benjamin's bastard son to the new position of Royal Governor
of New Jersey. Anne's fortunes also rise. A shrewd woman of
many talents, she builds a comfortable life of her own—yet
nothing fills her with more joy or pride than her son's
success and happiness.
But all that her accomplished son has achieved is threatened
when the colonies—led by influential men, including his own
father—begin the fight for independence. A steadfast, loyal
subject of the British Crown, William cannot accept his
father's passionate defense of the patriots' cause, and the
enduring bond they share fractures, a heart-wrenching break
that will forever haunt them and those they love.
A poignant tale of passion, family, love, and war, Benjamin
Franklin's Bastard skillfully brings into focus a cast of
remarkable characters drawn from real life, and vividly re-
creates one of the most remarkable and thrilling periods of
history—the birth of the American nation.
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