Benjamin Franklin's Bastard: A Novel

An absorbing and compelling work of literary historical fiction that illuminates a little-known chapter of the American struggle for independence - the secrets behind the birth of Benjamin Franklins's bastard son, William; their fraught relationship; and the women who loved them both. Benjamin Franklin is without doubt one of America's most (in)famous founding fathers: a brilliant scientist, writer, and philosopher; a political genius; a lifelong, incurable womanizer. When Benjamin's favorite "friend," Anne, becomes pregnant, the young printer is left in a difficult situation. Unwilling to end his comfortable common-law marriage to Deborah Read, Benjamin takes in his bastard son William and vows to raise him as their own. Forty-six years later, William is the Royal Governor of New Jersey and Benjamin has signed the Declaration of Independence sparking the American Revolution and solidifying a deep family rift. As Deborah, Anne, and William struggle to dig themselves out from under Benjamin's brilliant but scarring influence, it quickly becomes apparent that the past is not so easily forgotten.