Gallows Road: The Hidden History
My first novel, "Gallows Road," is now available from Amazon, the publisher Elm Grove Press, and other markets. Friends have often asked me, “Is this a true story you’re writing, Lisa?” Although certain plot elements and characters were products of my imagination, the novel was inspired by actual events in New London, Connecticut in the early 1750s.
Wally Lamb, the Connecticut-based author of six N.Y. Times bestselling novels including "I Know This Much Is True," read my manuscript and shared his endorsement for the cover:
“Traversing the same rocky footpaths as Nathaniel Hawthorne’s quintessential New England novel, "The Scarlet Letter," Lisa Hall Brownell’s "Gallows Road" tells an 18th-century story of love, sex, heartache, and hypocrisy. Yet Brownell’s Mercy Bramble is no opaque and respectful Hester Prynne. Mercy is a feisty, unschooled, and outspoken heroine who challenges the morals and mores of the staid, self-satisfied community that seeks to victimize her. I felt a near-magnetic pull into the pages of this humane, character-driven novel. I suspect you will, too.”
So, what first pulled me to this story? Years ago, I’d read about a young servant named Sarah Bramble who was imprisoned, placed on trial twice, and condemned to death for a crime that she swore she didn’t commit. Her newborn’s mysterious death put the teenaged mother’s life in the hands of a jury while three clergymen — and a group called Children of God — all fought to save her soul.
As a New London native, I’d been haunted by this incident, but I’m a storyteller, not a historian. I wanted to explore possible motives, emotions, and a certain “what if?” factor. "Gallows Road" takes place in a time so unlike our era of sharing and selfies. With notable exceptions, few people kept journals, and many girls, like my protagonist, were not taught to read or write. New London did not even have a newspaper until 1758.
Written records do not always tell the whole truth, however; it often depends on who wrote them and what was left unsaid. Ultimately, can any of us know exactly what happened one night, hundreds of years ago, in a remote farmhouse? We do know that on November 21, 1753, Sarah Bramble was executed in New London; some accounts say that thousands watched. It’s also true that more than 250 years later, I sat in the State Archives, carefully unfolded her original death warrant, and saw the sheriff's description of her execution. That’s when I decided to write a story to give forgotten women like Sarah Bramble a voice; my character, Mercy Bramble was born that day. The rest, as they say, is history.
Wally Lamb, the Connecticut-based author of six N.Y. Times bestselling novels including "I Know This Much Is True," read my manuscript and shared his endorsement for the cover:
“Traversing the same rocky footpaths as Nathaniel Hawthorne’s quintessential New England novel, "The Scarlet Letter," Lisa Hall Brownell’s "Gallows Road" tells an 18th-century story of love, sex, heartache, and hypocrisy. Yet Brownell’s Mercy Bramble is no opaque and respectful Hester Prynne. Mercy is a feisty, unschooled, and outspoken heroine who challenges the morals and mores of the staid, self-satisfied community that seeks to victimize her. I felt a near-magnetic pull into the pages of this humane, character-driven novel. I suspect you will, too.”
So, what first pulled me to this story? Years ago, I’d read about a young servant named Sarah Bramble who was imprisoned, placed on trial twice, and condemned to death for a crime that she swore she didn’t commit. Her newborn’s mysterious death put the teenaged mother’s life in the hands of a jury while three clergymen — and a group called Children of God — all fought to save her soul.
As a New London native, I’d been haunted by this incident, but I’m a storyteller, not a historian. I wanted to explore possible motives, emotions, and a certain “what if?” factor. "Gallows Road" takes place in a time so unlike our era of sharing and selfies. With notable exceptions, few people kept journals, and many girls, like my protagonist, were not taught to read or write. New London did not even have a newspaper until 1758.
Written records do not always tell the whole truth, however; it often depends on who wrote them and what was left unsaid. Ultimately, can any of us know exactly what happened one night, hundreds of years ago, in a remote farmhouse? We do know that on November 21, 1753, Sarah Bramble was executed in New London; some accounts say that thousands watched. It’s also true that more than 250 years later, I sat in the State Archives, carefully unfolded her original death warrant, and saw the sheriff's description of her execution. That’s when I decided to write a story to give forgotten women like Sarah Bramble a voice; my character, Mercy Bramble was born that day. The rest, as they say, is history.
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Combining Connecticut history [‘Hers’-tory] as creative fiction based on a true story, “Gallows Road” is a great example of what my third grade teacher said of writing: “SHOW, don’t just TELL”. A woman aware of her own self-worth & unwilling to submit to patriarchal demands and assumptions — a servant, a female, & in the 1750s — shows what great, valuable story-telling can achieve. Knowing that females are men’s equals — that’s an ongoing necessity and battle since written human history began.
Mercy Bramble’s life, battles, and losses will haunt me. Like books that you remember years later? As though actually living that main character’s story? Then you will love “Gallows Road”. A visceral, memorable book that brings 1750s New England to life.