Submit: A Novel

by Mark Partridge

On the verge of becoming a spinster at twenty-three in colonial Nova Scotia, Submit Leete yields to parental pressure to marry a British Captain more than twice her age, but when he dies and she marries his young protégé too soon afterwards, her young stepdaughter Mary suspects the worst and vows revenge.

Was his death an accident or murder?

Mary sets out to prove that Submit and her new husband were motivated by lust and greed to end her father's life and steal his fortune. Dogged by this quest, she traces clues deep into the past hoping to destroy their lives, just as hers was destroyed.

In the face of Mary's vendetta and the obstacles imposed on women by the norms of her time, Submit pursues her own hopeful dreams for success, equality and independence.

Submit and her younger sister experience difficult cultural forces restraining women to hearth and home. They live at a time when women were not welcome in a man's world of education or business, making their struggle to find independence a difficult journey against the tide.

324 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 1, 2025

Reviews

[Fawn Doyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mysterious death in early 1800s Nova Scotia drives the plot of this unique story. From the title, I assumed the main character was Submit Leete, a dutiful daughter who marries a much older man for the advantage of her family business and to care for her husband's motherless children.

But the closer we get to the event of her husband's death, the more the POV pulls away from Submit. Instead, we read her sister Huldah's letters to her as she has Byron-esque romps through Europe (even meeting Mary Shelley) and we follow Submit's step-daughter as she obsessively seeks to prove Submit and her new husband were to blame for her father's death.

Based on the author's genealogy research, Partridge brings to life early 19th-century women and the obsessions and secrets that they keep.

[ELIZABETH PARTRIDGE-WINTON · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark Partridge has written a fascinating page-turning historical novel that gave me enormous pleasure to read. The title intrigued me: “Submit”. Submit to what? Oh, then I find out that Submit is a women’s name. What is she going to have to submit to? A violent husband, working endless hours in a factory, leaving everything and everyone she loves behind and move to a strange and different place?
Would a 21st century woman ever accept being called Submit? At any rate I had to read the book. It’s a thriller, à murder mystery at times, but it also has emotional tones such as those found in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Are people making unfair judgements about Submit? Are her stepchildren giving her a chance to love them? Is there any love in her first marriage or is she just a dutiful wife?
I recommend answering these questions yourselves and finding a copy of this exciting new novel as soon as possible. It is truly a good read.

[Kathy Partridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Based on a true genealogy and true events in the lives of the author’s ancestors, Submit is a riveting story of three interconnected families whose Loyalist leanings took them to Nova Scotia, Canada after the independence of the United States. The novel centers on the trust and tension among four women—Submit and her sister Huldah, step-daughter Mary, and housekeeper Lily. Stories of their marriages, businesses, and travels unfold with the backdrop of the aftermath of the Revolutionary War, marked by the deep divisions between fathers and sons, yearnings of formerly enslaved Africans freed by the British but drawn to Africa, and the emerging consciousness of women.

This is no quiet tale of parlour games; a horrific death plunges us into a murder mystery of accusations, motives, and questionable actions. The tense plot keeps the reader eager to turn the page and find out what happens next. The characters are drawn with good psychological insight, so they come alive as very believable people of their era, and indeed of any era. Along the way, the vivid descriptions of indoor and outdoor settings offer a rich picture of life in early 19th century Nova Scotia and New England. It’s an absorbing, very readable tale, with plenty of finely crafted passages to satisfy even the most discriminating reader.

[Doug Culbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

SUBMIT is the first novel by retired attorney Mark Partridge. I enjoyed it very much. The author has spent years researching his ancestral roots in New England and Nova Scotia. The story is rooted in the known, and filled in creatively where there were no identifiable facts, as is so often the case with ancestral research. This is a well told tale with substantive characters and evocative descriptive prose. It was actually the small observations and descriptions of little things (sound and smells, the rattle of harness buckles, the smell of the air) that I enjoyed most. I recommend this tale and look forward to another from this writer.

[Purple · Rating 5 out of 5]

Submit is a thrilling tale about family, duty, and love. It's mainly set in the early 1800s in Nova Scotia, a place and a time period I knew little about before diving into this book, but was made fascinating by the author (I was also struck by how many historical events still reverberate in North American current events). My favorite aspect of the story was the well drawn, complex characters. I felt great empathy for every one of them and could understand their motivations, even if their actions were less than noble. I especially enjoyed the three dimensional female characters.

Highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy historical fiction, mysteries, and stories with strong, complex female leads!

[Donna Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I read it in one sitting - I could not put it down. The writing is beautiful and the story captivating. I loved following Submit through her life journey. I highly recommend this book!

[Polly Brophy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book based on true events. The characters are fully realized and compelling. I especially enjoyed seeing and experiencing through the story that human problems are universal. I recommend this book!

[Richard Moffitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful read and a meticulously researched novel whose 18th century characters come alive in a gripping story of love, jealousy and murder. All based on real Partridge ancestors, it makes you wonder what dramas could have taken place in one’s own family history. R. Moffitt

[Barbara M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

What sets this book apart from so many historical novels is its basis in the author's own genealogical research. "Submit" was a real person, her name real as well. As we rush to turn each page, we find the choices to submit, or not submit, to be the driving force for many of the well-drawn characters. The crux of the story is a death, accidental or not, and the events that follow. The reader leaves this book with a deeper of knowledge of a little-known time in history, from the end of the American Revolution to the 1840's in Nova Scotia and Massachusetts, and with the satisfaction of having read a well-spun yarn.

[Paula Saban · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an engaging, well researched historical novel Mark Partridge has written! In his debut novel he has used his own family’s genealogy research to weave the story of Submit Leete, a young woman in Nova Scotia whose family arranges a marriage to a much older man. Upon his death, Submit marries her husband’s much younger associate. Partridge spins out a fast-paced story of revenge and family relationships-some broken and some deeply treasured -spanning 40 years, all against the backdrop of British control. The author makes the characters come alive largely through the excellent use of letters. In his capable hands this technique works so well! Anxiously awaiting Partridge’s next novel.

[Georgette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Submit: A Novel is an engrossing book that is difficult to put down. Mark Partridge transports the reader to another time and place—Nova Scotia in the early 19th century—to glimpse the daily lives of the characters as we share their joys and sorrows. Meticulous details are skillfully integrated into the broader strokes of historical context. Submit is wonderfully enhanced by our knowledge that these were real people and the author’s ancestors.