About Kindling of a Firebrand: Fran Sweeney and the Fight Against Boston’s Fascism, A Historical Novel
This vital historical novel takes Fran Sweeney from Boston’s early 20th century Irish American neighborhoods to a life of action and influence where she fights powerful forces that threaten the democratic soul of her beloved city.
During the Great Depression and the war that follows, pro-Nazi organizations flood Boston with propaganda and terror tactics. Inspired by her Dad’s example during her childhood on the Charlestown waterfront and by her experience as an office worker in corporate America, Fran becomes a skilled activist and “fearless firebrand” speaking out for social justice and democracy.
The paper she starts, the Boston City Reporter, takes on Fascist, pro-Nazi and racist elements in Boston and beyond. Her words and actions, brave and smart, win national attention for the difference they make in Boston and set an example for action throughout the country.
Kindling of a Firebrand is a biographical novel, the imagined inner narrative of a life, built upon a base of established facts.
Buy the book, and follow the author on social media:
Learn more about the writer. Visit the Author’s Website.
Author Bio:
Among Brenda Murphy’s twenty books are historical novels centered on creating the private reality of fascinating characters who emerge from the public record. Recent books include When Light Breaks Through: A Salem Witch Trials Story, which focuses on Ann Putnam, one of the ringleaders of the Salem witch trials, and Joseph Green, the minister who finally brought peace to Salem Village. Earlier subjects include some of her immigrant ancestors in After the Voyage: An Irish American Story and Carlotta Monterey, who had a controversial career in the theater and tempestuous marriages with an English aristocrat, a bohemian artist, and the playwright Eugene O'Neill, in Becoming Carlotta. Brenda taught American literature, drama, and writing for years and wrote a lot of literary criticism before she began to write historical fiction.