Karen Wills

For a long time I hated to see July come around. And not without reason! July was the month for romantic train wrecks, family deaths, serious accidents, just trouble in many arenas. Then I met my husband who scoffs at superstition. In a burst of confidence in our relationship, I agreed to be married in July. We’ll be happily celebrating our ninth anniversary on the 30th of this month, so we triumphed in breaking the curse.
Now that gloom has vanished, I see that sunny July is really a month for kids – or the child in each of us. Fireworks are just plain irresistible. So are hot dogs and parades and red, white, and blue desserts. Add pretty much anything legal we can do on clear summer nights. And, always, reading.
This year I looked for anything fictional having to do with the American Revolution. There are scads of children’s books and YA novels, but hardly anything written for adults. I wonder if we perceive the Colonial Era as a simpler time, so simple any child could understand it and then move on. I turned to the movies and found the same thing. I did watch John Ford’s Drums along the Mohawk with Claudette Colbert and Henry Fonda, still good to see. I’m waiting for the children’s film, Johnny Tremain, which Netflix tells me will involve a long wait.
I believe our forefathers and women such as Abigail Adams were complex human beings. Somebody out there, fill the void. Write us a Revolutionary War story or at least a Colonial Era novel for literary fiction readers.
I’d welcome it in a place of honor on my bookshelf.