Recently I was going through my bookcase looking for something interesting to read one night when I couldn't sleep and came across The American Bicentennial Series volumes by John Jakes.
The story behind these books is that Jakes intended it to be a set of six novels that would carry one American family from the beginnings of our nation through the Bicentennial Year of 1976. Somewhere along the way , the plan changed. Jakes never made it to the Bicentennial, and instead stopped with the eighth novel, The Americans, which ends at the turn of the 20th Century.
This was a very famous series at the time of the Bicentennial. Stephen King even mentioned it in his original version of The Stand: when Stu breaks his leg, he originally asks for all of these books to read.
When I picked up The Bastard to read it all over again, I wondered how well it would hold up almost thirty years later.
The Bastard is the story of Phillipe Charboneau, the illegitimate son of a French actress turned innkeeper and a British Nobleman. When his father takes ill, Phillipe's mother brings him to England to claim what is rightfully his by a letter written by his father many years before. The trip turns disastrous, and Phillipe and his mother heads to the colonies, changing his name to Philip Kent (after Kentland, his father's family residence). His mother's heart is broken in that all she ever hoped for in both her life and the life of her son are shattered.
Once the story shifts to the colonies, we are given an intimate look at the beginnings of the American Revolution, as well as a glimpse into the lives of such historical American figures as Benjamin Franklin, Paul Revere, and Samuel Adams. One notable non-American here is Lafayette, who gives Philip a sword that begins the theme of various meaningful artifacts passed down throughout the family that have great personal and historical meaning.
Philip is not free in America from the wrath of his father's (legitimate) family. He has had an affair with his brother's wife and has unfinished business with both of them. Unsure of exactly what his feelings are for Alicia, this prevents him from committing to Anne Ware who loves him dearly, but does not use what she has to hold him to her.
This is a fascinating novel with well-written and fleshed-out characters. At times if I didn't know my history, I would have trouble telling who exactly is real and who is fiction. Philip and Anne are, of course, as are many of the other featured characters such as his father and brother. The story is peppered with enough historical references and figures that it does make a good education.
There are some sexual situations that are not, in my opinion, gratuitous. I would suggest this book for anyone age thirteen and up although I think I was actually a bit younger when I first read it.
As with most of the books I've read by John Jakes, his descriptiveness can get a bit tedious at times. The paperback version I have from 1976 logs in at 629 pages. Still, it is well-worth the read and will keep you in its grip and excite you about what is coming up in the next book.
For my reviews of the other books in the Kent Family Chronicles (or Bicentennial Series) by John Jakes, see:
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