Celebrate Independence Day with historical fiction: remember The Bastard by John Jakes?

July 1, 10:58 PMBirmingham Books ExaminerElizabeth Woodworth

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Nelson Doubleday, 1st edition cover, 1974.

I remember The Bastard. Fondly. Do you? Years ago, I started reading this book which I found at my mother’s library that I thought must be very racy indeed because of its title, The Bastard, by John Jakes (1974). Here are just a few of things I want to say about this book and its author:

• It’s a perfect book for the long Independence Day weekend because at its heart is the struggle for one young man (Philip Kent) and one young country (America) to survive. Action takes place just before, during, and after the American Revolution and moves from France to England to the colonies. It’s a ripping great page turner.
• It is the first of eight (yes, eight!) hefty historical novels in the Kent Family Chronicles. Just read this one if you like—it’s very fine historical fiction—but if you love it, you have a lot to look forward to with seven more books.
• Over 55 million copies of this series are in print. The Bastard was made into a movie in 1978—warning: Sex and the City connection coming: Kim Cattrall played one of Philip Kent’s love interests.
• Patricia Cornwell called him "the best historical novelist of our time."
• John Jakes wrote a lot in a lot of genres for a lot of years (including over 18 science fiction/fantasy books and 200 short stories: that's a lot)—according to the 10,000 hour rule written about by Malcolm Galdwell, John Jakes is an expert, a guru, an outlier.
• My favorite fascinating fact about John Jakes: “A lifelong admirer of the life and work of Charles Dickens, Jakes created a stage adaptation of A Christmas Carol for his home playhouse on Hilton Head Island in the late 80's. Since then the script has been widely produced by university and regional theaters, including the prestigious Alabama Shakespeare Festival, the Victory Theater of Dayton, and the Burt Reynolds Institute for Theater Training in West Palm Beach.” Holy cow.
• Second most fascinating fact: Jakes has a master’s degree in American literature from Ohio State University. Go, English majors, go.
• When asked what you’re reading, don’t you want to say you’re reading, The Bastard? Isn’t that just a little bit naughty?

In 1975, Jakes had three books on the NY Times bestseller list in a single year (the first author to manage this feat): Volumes II, III, and IV from the Kent Family Chronicles (listed below). New copies have been printed recently and are easily purchased from a variety of bookstores.

The Kent Family Chronicles

• The Bastard (1974)
• The Rebels (1975)
• The Seekers (1975)
• The Furies (1976)
• The Titans (1976)
• The Warriors (1977)
• The Lawless (1978)
• The Americans (1979)

Are you at all curious about why we have this holiday every year? And do you loathe reading poorly written books about dates of battles, winners/losers, but no sex, drugs, or rock and roll? This book will keep you turning pages (well, no real rock and roll, but there is the Boston Tea Party which rocked, and John Jakes's main character in The Bastard, Philip Kent was there).

Grill up some dogs, eat some apple pie, drink a brew, and read The Bastard—it would be so American.

For more info on John Jakes, his books, or historical fiction in general, look no further:

The John Jakes Web Site

More on John Jakes

Ratings of The Bastard on Goodreads

The Historical Novel Society

Historical Fiction Network

Please send comments or thoughts to edwoodworth@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.