Synopses & Reviews
Nancy Turner burst onto the literary scene with her hugely popular novels These Is My Words, Sarahs Quilt, and The Star Garden. Now, Turner has written the novel she was born to write, this exciting and heartfelt story of a woman struggling to find herself during the tumultuous years preceding the American Revolution.
The year is 1729, and Resolute Talbot and her siblings are captured by pirates, taken from their family in Jamaica, and brought to the New World. Resolute and her sister are sold into slavery in colonial New England and taught the trade of spinning and weaving. When Resolute finds herself alone in Lexington, Massachusetts, she struggles to find her way in a society that is quick to judge a young woman without a family. As the seeds of rebellion against England grow, Resolute is torn between following the rules and breaking free. Resolutes talent at the loom places her at the center of an incredible web of secrecy that helped drive the American Revolution. Heart-wrenching, brilliantly written, and packed to the brim with adventure, My Name is Resolute is destined to be an instant classic.
Review
Praise for Sarahs Quilt:
“A sensitive, vibrant story about the strength of love and family . . . Reminiscent of Larry McMurtrys Lonesome Dove.” —The Denver Post
"Gritty Sarah Elliot, who lassoed our hearts in These Is My Words, proves that women as well as men tamed the West." —Sandra Dallas, author of The Diary of Mattie Spenser
“Hard times, danger, love, well-defined characters, and a strong sense of place all merge to form the heart of this novel.” —Dallas Morning News
"Action-packed." —Tucson Guide Quarterly
Praise for These Is My Words:
"Incredibly vivid and real." —Rosamunde Pilcher, author of The Shell Seekers
Review
Praise for My Name Is Resolute:
From Kirkus
"Turner's (The Star Garden, 2007, etc.) historical novel, set principally in the New World between 1729 and 1781, follows the life of a woman who struggles to control her own destiny and then uses her skills to help found a new country.
Resolute Talbot is a young child when she and her two older siblings are captured by pirates and taken from the family home in Jamaica. Patience, her sister, does whatever is necessary to protect her younger sister and herself, and brother August signs on to become a privateer. Surviving inhumane conditions, illness and harsh treatment, Resolute is stripped of her name, sold as a slave in the New World, taken prisoner by Indians and confined in a Catholic orphanage, where she learns to spin and weave. After years of waiting for the right opportunity, she and Patience escape, but Resolute is left to her own devices on the outskirts of Lexington, Mass. There, her dreams of returning to Jamaica, where she believes her mother awaits her return, are supplanted by the practicalities of everyday living. Resolute inherits property, establishes a business, meets carpenter Cullah MacLammond and weathers the effects of two wars: the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. During difficult political conditions and epidemics that shape Resolutes familys and friends futures, she proves worthy of her name and uses her skills to assist others. Among her brave acts, she rescues a slave, hides contraband for the Sons of Liberty in her home, volunteers for secret missions, provides sustenance to starving soldiers, and sews cloaks and uniforms for the troops. Throughout the narrative, Turner skillfully keeps her main characters in the forefront and reveals historical events through their eyes and actions rather than by means of long, explanatory passages that stall the plot. The novel is lengthy and somewhat repetitious as so many characters are introduced, disappear and then are reunited multiple times, but the author convincingly conveys a pivotal time in American history and provides a rewarding reading experience.
A fitting story about resiliency, ingenuity and heroism."
“I fell in love with Resolute Talbot early in the first chapter, even before she was kidnapped as a child by pirates in Jamaica and launched into her riveting journey from captivity to independence. Nancy Turner is a stunning historical researcher who has imbued Resolute with a haunting narrators voice, seeded with language and sensibilities of another time. The details throughout—from spinning wheel jargon to military intrigue—create a sense of 18th century, when the colonies were at their breaking point. Resolute represents the women who bravely and quietly contributed to the Revolutionary War effort, and were all but forgotten until now. This is historical fiction at its best; alive, exciting and profoundly moving. Resolute is a revelation, Nancy Turner is a master.” —Bonnie Marson, author of Sleeping with Schubert
Praise for Sarahs Quilt:
“A sensitive, vibrant story about the strength of love and family . . . Reminiscent of Larry McMurtrys Lonesome Dove.” —The Denver Post
"Gritty Sarah Elliot, who lassoed our hearts in These Is My Words, proves that women as well as men tamed the West." —Sandra Dallas, author of The Diary of Mattie Spenser
“Hard times, danger, love, well-defined characters, and a strong sense of place all merge to form the heart of this novel.” —Dallas Morning News
"Action-packed." —Tucson Guide Quarterly
Praise for These Is My Words:
"Incredibly vivid and real." —Rosamunde Pilcher, author of The Shell Seekers
Review
Praise for My Name Is Resolute
Every page of Turners engrossing and fascinating work is better than the last. Not only historical fiction fans will love this beautifully written and compelling novel.” —Library Journal
“…the author convincingly conveys a pivotal time in American history and provides a rewarding reading experience. A fitting story about resiliency, ingenuity and heroism.” —Kirkus
"Turner has drawn a character whose trials, loves, losses and achievements Turner fans will happily follow." —Tucson Weekly
"An evocative page turner...Nancy Turner is a brilliant voice, an author to look out for." —Mary Sharratt, author of Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen
"Nancy Turner's novel, MY NAME IS RESOLUTE, is astonishing in its attention to detail and in the authenticity of its narrative. But what's more compelling is the heartfelt accounting of a remarkable woman who survives servitude, loss of home and family, and who embodies the courage of the settlers who transformed a wilderness into a bold new country." —Kathleen Kent, author of The Heretic's Daughter, The Outcasts, and The Traitor's Wife
“Fiercely independent, stubborn and sometimes endearingly naïve, Resolute is one of those magical, insistent characters who lives on in your head and your heart long past the final page. Nancy Turner is one of my favorite storytellers: Im always hooked from her first sentence and sorry to reach the last. In MY NAME IS RESOLUTE, she brings colonial America to life, endowing Resolute with her signature mix of humor, spunk, courage, common sense, and passion. From pirate attacks and Indian abduction to the shuttling of a loom, Turner is equally marvelous with larger-than-life heroics and the quiet joys of hearth and home. Sarah Prine has a worthy “sister” at last - this book was totally worth the wait!” —Jennifer Lee Carrell, author of Interred with Their Bones and Haunt Me Still
“I fell in love with Resolute Talbot early in the first chapter, even before she was kidnapped as a child by pirates in Jamaica and launched into her riveting journey from captivity to independence. Nancy Turner is a stunning historical researcher who has imbued Resolute with a haunting narrators voice, seeded with language and sensibilities of another time. The details throughout—from spinning wheel jargon to military intrigue—create a sense of 18th century, when the colonies were at their breaking point. Resolute represents the women who bravely and quietly contributed to the Revolutionary War effort, and were all but forgotten until now. This is historical fiction at its best; alive, exciting and profoundly moving. Resolute is a revelation, Nancy Turner is a master.” —Bonnie Marson, author of Sleeping with Schubert
About the Author
NANCY TURNER is the author of These Is My Words, Sarah's Quilt, and The Star Garden. She was born in Dallas, Texas and grew up in Southern California and Arizona. These Is My Words was selected as One Book, One Arizona. She lives in Tucson with her husband and her dog.