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Pulaski Saga #1
Pulaski's Canal
1841 Ben was thought dead for 3 long years. His widow Sonja clawed through days of drudgery as a house servant to a rich man who wanted her body, while she tried to pay her debts and clothe her sons. Ben came home from a prison in China to find his family emotionally empty and destitute. They struggle to reunite and rebuild their lives on the Canal, salvaging a barge they named the Ugly Boat, facing hardships and disasters, driving them to their limits.
378 pages, Paperback
First published November 11, 2013
6 people are currently reading
15 people want to read
About the author
Robert F. Lackey
14 books9 followersROBERT F. LACKEY draws from his experiences living in 38 locations in the United States and Europe. His longest location was in Havre de Grace, Maryland, which provided him the perspective and understanding to begin his Pulaski Saga. For much of his years in Havre de Grace, he spent many weekend afternoons exploring the remnants of the Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal. He fell in love with the little town sitting at the mouth of the Susquehanna River and head of the Chesapeake Bay. Among the many historic themes coexisting within the nearby sites and lanes, the Canal Era of the 19th century drew the author’s attention first. Stepping outside technical writing to complete his first novel, 'Pulaski’s Canal', Robert began a family story that has blossomed into a family saga. 'Blood on the Chesapeake' is the first of several sequels to follow 'Pulaski’s Canal'. His third Pulaski novel 'Raven's Risk' is due out September 1, 2017. He is now conducting research in Georgetown, South Carolina, for his next novel's locations, for his fourth Pulaski book, tentatively titled 'Kingdoms in the Marsh' (due out in 2018). Robert plans additional sequels to follow the Pulaski family through the mid to late 1800’s.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 24, 2019
Pulaski’s Canal by Robert F. Laskey is a historical novel, and the first of a series centered on barge traffic around Havre de Grace, Maryland near the mouth of the Susquehanna River. The milieu is pre-Civil War and the author has done a fine job evoking time and place. Even though Maryland fought on the Union side during the coming war and had free blacks living there, it was legal to own slaves and many did. While they were technically free, the blacks of Maryland were second-class citizens and mostly kept to themselves.
The story centers around Ben Pulaski, who, after virtual-imprisonment in China, returns to home to his wife, Sonja, who was led to believe that he had died and thus mourned his passing for years. Much has changed since Ben left. His home and fortune are gone and he confronts a bitter, angry wife who cannot forgive him for failing to correspond with her to at least let her know he was still alive.
There are dark secrets about what happened to Ben in China and Sonja has her own secrets she is loath to reveal.
The bulk of the novel is about how Ben becomes a canaller to put bread on his family’s table, a roof over their head and to fulfill the promise to his wife that he’s done with long ocean voyages. To that end, Ben salvages a wrecked barge and with the help of a crusty craftsman, designs and builds an unconventional vessel to use in shipping coal, cotton and other commodities up and down the river. Lackey explains in vivid detail how commerce was conducted and how canal locks work. Life on the river is hard. The Susquehanna is prone to flooding and a harrowing flood nearly destroys the newly united family.
He puts together a ragtag group of men, including two he’s sailed with before, including an articulate free black man and an Irish river rat that turns out to be quite skilled stitching up wounds. On their journey, they meet merchants, fellow canallers, doctors, sheriffs, slave catchers and runaway slaves in whose fates they intervene.
The primary adversary is a loathsome banker who cheats the Pulaskis out of their family fortune and who needs, as Ben says, killing.
Evocative descriptions of life on the river are skillfully painted as well as the moment-to-moment interaction of the characters.
I cared about what happened to the characters and had great affection for several of them. Tension is drawn out with the three final climaxes when at the end a character appears who also has enmity for the Pulaskis. The novel is followed by 4 more at the time of this review.
The book could have used a bit more proofreading and while the occasional lapse is distracting, it doesn’t detract from the overall impression the author meant to convey. I couldn’t put the book down when I reached the last third.
The story centers around Ben Pulaski, who, after virtual-imprisonment in China, returns to home to his wife, Sonja, who was led to believe that he had died and thus mourned his passing for years. Much has changed since Ben left. His home and fortune are gone and he confronts a bitter, angry wife who cannot forgive him for failing to correspond with her to at least let her know he was still alive.
There are dark secrets about what happened to Ben in China and Sonja has her own secrets she is loath to reveal.
The bulk of the novel is about how Ben becomes a canaller to put bread on his family’s table, a roof over their head and to fulfill the promise to his wife that he’s done with long ocean voyages. To that end, Ben salvages a wrecked barge and with the help of a crusty craftsman, designs and builds an unconventional vessel to use in shipping coal, cotton and other commodities up and down the river. Lackey explains in vivid detail how commerce was conducted and how canal locks work. Life on the river is hard. The Susquehanna is prone to flooding and a harrowing flood nearly destroys the newly united family.
He puts together a ragtag group of men, including two he’s sailed with before, including an articulate free black man and an Irish river rat that turns out to be quite skilled stitching up wounds. On their journey, they meet merchants, fellow canallers, doctors, sheriffs, slave catchers and runaway slaves in whose fates they intervene.
The primary adversary is a loathsome banker who cheats the Pulaskis out of their family fortune and who needs, as Ben says, killing.
Evocative descriptions of life on the river are skillfully painted as well as the moment-to-moment interaction of the characters.
I cared about what happened to the characters and had great affection for several of them. Tension is drawn out with the three final climaxes when at the end a character appears who also has enmity for the Pulaskis. The novel is followed by 4 more at the time of this review.
The book could have used a bit more proofreading and while the occasional lapse is distracting, it doesn’t detract from the overall impression the author meant to convey. I couldn’t put the book down when I reached the last third.
June 9, 2019
The first book in the Pulaski Family saga & I’m completely hooked. I’m so glad I found this series at Washington Street Books & Music in Havre de Grace.
July 6, 2022
This is an unrelenting depressing read. Don't get me wrong, it's well written and all but it never takes a break. Read with booze.
June 21, 2020
If you love historical sagas, this is a book you should read. You will be introduced to a large number of characters, but all of them are important--not only in this book, but in the books that follow. Ben Pulaski returns home after being held in China during the First Opium War to find his home destroyed and his family scattered. In this book he begins to rebuild both, but against the backdrop of the conflicts of living in a border state at a time when slavery was becoming more of an issue for the United States.
The book and the story might seem to be slow going at first, but it is worth continuing to read--not only this book, but the books that follow.
The book and the story might seem to be slow going at first, but it is worth continuing to read--not only this book, but the books that follow.
July 12, 2022
Great reading. Enjoyed the story.
Loved the characters and the setting. Fun following the adventure. Well researched. I’m planning on reading the rest of the series.
Loved the characters and the setting. Fun following the adventure. Well researched. I’m planning on reading the rest of the series.
November 13, 2025
I loved how real these characters felt. You can sense the pain, love, and moral conflict on every page.
November 13, 2025
Our club was divided on Ben, but that’s what made the discussion so good — he’s flawed, human, and unforgettable.
November 13, 2025
A richly detailed story of redemption. The 1840s setting felt alive, not just a backdrop.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews