The New Land

The Overstreet Saga starts with a bang with The New Land, the first book of a trilogy of historical novels, which follows a new settlement on the Maine coast in 1753.  The New Land tells uniquely American immigrant stories—full of adventure, excitement, heartbreak, and a tapestry of richly developed characters.

Johann Oberstrasse’s wife, Christianne, announced that their infant sons will never soldier for the Landgraf of Hesse like their father, hired out to serve King George of England. In search of a new life, Johann and the family journey to the New World, lured by the promise of land on the Maine coast. A grinding voyage deposits them on the edge of a continent filled with dangers and disease. Expecting to till the soil, Johann finds that opportunity on the rocky coast comes from the forest, not land, so he must learn carpentry and trapping. To advance in an English world, Johann adapts their name to Overstreet.

But war follows them. The French and their Indian allies mount attacks on the English settlements of New England. To protect their growing family and Broad Bay neighbors, Johann accepts the captaincy of the settlement’s militia and leads the company through the British assault on the citadel of Louisbourg in Nova Scotia. Left behind in Broad Bay, Christianne, their small children, and the old and young stave off Indian attacks, hunger, and cruel privations.

Peace brings Johann success as a carpenter, but also searing personal losses. When the fever for American independence reaches Broad Bay in 1774, Johann is torn, then resolves to kill no more…unlike his son, Franklin, who leaves to stand with the Americans on Bunker Hill. At the same time, Johann faces old demons and a new crisis when an escaped prisoner—a hired Hessian soldier, just as he had been—arrives at his door.

 

Praise for The New Land

“A compelling origin story of an American family and the new nation where they carve out a home. David O. Stewart’s prose makes you feel the sea-spray, hear the saw’s rasp, and smell the musket smoke.” –Tom Young, author of SILVER WINGS, IRON CROSS.

The engaging story keeps you reading but also provides a pitch-perfect rendering of 18th century life in the challenging and dangerous New World. Call it an epic or treat it as a saga, it is historical fiction of a high order. When you read the excerpt of Book Two, you know you’ll want to read on.”  James McGrath Morris, Author of Tony Hillerman: A Life.”

Available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop.org.