SB Authors: Jane Hulse's Teenage Heroine Returns in New Volume of Revolutionary Era Series Saga

Historic fiction writer discusses "Outcasts of Essex," the just-out prequel to earlier novel about the adventures and misadventures of the independent-minded Sarah Bennett amid the War of Independence

At a time when a reckless, brain worm-afflicted conspiracy crank is directing U.S. health policy, there is a small measure of comfort in learning that Americans have been bitterly brawling about vaccines since well before the nation’s founding.

So we discovered in perusing “Outcasts of Essex,” a just-released, richly textured, well-paced, coming of age historical novel, the second in a series from the Santa Barbara writer Jane Hulse.

“People have asked me if the book is appropriate for kids, and I tell them, yes, it’s perfect for kids - it’s got murder, arson, explosions, torture and terrorism—and just a smidge of sex.” she says about the book, newly released by Open Books publishers.

Hulse dropped by Newsmakers TV this week, her first appearance since the fall of 2023, when we spoke about her first novel, “Prisoner of Wallabout Bay,” and first encountered her heroine, the brave, independent, 17-year old Sarah Barrett, who chafes and rebels against social constrictions of society and family in a small New Hampshire town, amid the gathering storm of the Revolutionary War.

“Outcasts of Essex” is a prequel to the previous volume, as now-15 year old Sarah not only struggles to assert her free-spirited identity, but also is forced to navigate the rancor and brutality within a community toxically divided about the wisdom and fervor of insurrection against the King, the stirrings of a first, would-be love affair, her mother’s traditionalist demands and expectations, and her father’s cross-grained public political pronouncements. And, oh yeah, a smallpox epidemic.

Hulse’s work is characterized by meticulous research and painstaking attention to small detail, so her precise and graphic description of the Revolutionary Era’s primitive procedures for inoculating against infectious disease — and the cultural political, social, scientific and religious conflicts and uproar surrounding it — may be counted as a reliable narrative presaging the absurd and brain-breaking debate over public health in which we remain embroiled to this day.

Oy.

Hulse’s passion for the Revolutionary Era traces to her childhood in New Hampshire, where she grew up in an 18th century house filled with furniture and trappings from the period, collected by her father, a real estate man and enthusiastic connoisseur of house fittings, furnishings and fixtures, from muskets, blankets and beds to cabinets, clocks and rugs.

These, plus family sagas of ancestors who fought on both sides of the Revolutionary War, formed the backdrop of her youth, amid excursions to historic sites, including nearby caves where Loyalists hid from Continental Army forces (a key plot point in the new book).

Hulse had a long career in newspapers, including the Rocky Mountain News, the L.A. Times, the Ventura County Star and Santa Barbara’s now-defunct, soon-to-be reborn historic morning daily, where she served a distinguished stint as its conscientious and industrious City Editor, in charge of the then-robust, local reporting staff.

On Saturday (May 17), at 3 p.m., she’ll be speaking and signing books at Tecolote Book Shop, 1470 E. Valley Road, in Montecito.

You also can find the book on Amazon or, better yet, order directly from the publisher, Open Books, right here.

Check out our conversation with Jane Hulse on YouTube below or by clicking through this link. The podcast is available on Apple and Spotify, and on Soundcloud here. TVSB, Channel 17, airs Newsmakers every weeknight at 8 p.m. and at 9 a.m. on weekends. KCSB, 91.9 FM, broadcasts the program at 5:30 p.m. on Monday.

Image: Book jacket of “Outcasts of Essex,” published by Open Books.