Concord

by Don Zancanella

Summer has come to New England and Henry David Thoreau and his brother John are in love with the same girl. Reclusive writer Nathaniel Hawthorne is courting Sophia Peabody of the remarkable Peabody family of Boston. And the brilliant Margaret Fuller and the equally brilliant but married Ralph Waldo Emerson find themselves engaged in a passionate affair of the mind and heart.

Eventually everyone—Henry, Margaret, the Emersons, the newlywed Hawthornes, and even the Alcotts (who have a daughter named Louisa May)—come together to live in the village of Concord. There, they experience times of joy and times of sorrow as they begin their journey toward becoming the extraordinary group that history remembers and readers revere. Now they are icons of American literature but in Concord they were young and in love.

Genres: Historical Fiction

360 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2021

About the author

Don Zancanella has won the Iowa Short Fiction Award and an O.Henry Prize. One of his stories was cited as a distinguished story of the year in the 2019 Best American Short Stories and another one was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He has published widely in literary magazines. His books include WESTERN ELECTRIC, a collection of stories; CONCORD, a novel about Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Sophia Peabody, and Nathaniel Hawthorne; and A STORM IN THE STARS, a novel about Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley, and the writing of Frankenstein.

He was a middle school teacher and a high school teacher and taught at the University of New Mexico. In addition to writing fiction, he has an interest in the teaching of literature and writing.

He now lives in Boise, Idaho and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Reviews

[Shelby Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting historical fiction about Concord and some well-loved poets. I loved getting to see a more humanistic side of these poets, as I’ve only briefly read their popular works before. The writing was a bit choppy at points, but I was thoroughly entertained and I’m pleased with the ending. Going to Concord for the first time during the reading of this book also really added.

Favorite Quotes:
“His vision of Concord as a sort of American Athens, a place where poets and philosophers and artists might gather and live and read and write and learn from one another” (pg. 124).
“Men do not feel themselves outsiders because the most prestigious of clubs is the one they all enter at birth” (pg. 315).

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my goodness. I loved this novel. It was a totally immersive experience. I couldn't get enough. Having spent so many years teaching American literature, I find first that I was completely primed to read this, a kind of ideal reader; and second, that I wish I could go back and teach American literature all over again. The greatest thinkers or a band of eccentrics? Either way they were real people, young once, in love -- with the world, and each other, and their own youth and brilliance. It's a real gift to be able to spend time with them as Zancanella has rendered them.

[Natalie Silver · Rating 4 out of 5]

I spent time reading this book and really loved it. I admire the transcendentals and New England, so this was a lovely historical fiction novel. It prompted me to look up more about Margaret Fuller as well--what an interesting, groundbreaking feminist.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A truly delightful read. What an interesting place Concord and surrounding areas must have been with Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Ralph Waldo Emerson, among others, interacting in the area.

[Annmarie Garcia Sheahan · Rating 5 out of 5]

For my undergraduate degree in English, I specialized in American Literature and was particularly interested in the Early American Transcendentalists and Romantics. As I immersed myself in Zancanella's novel, I was transported back to those days of annotating Emerson's essays, alternating between boredom and fascination while reading Walden, and gaining new appreciation for Hawthorne, who I had loathed in high school. Solid historical fiction brings to life the epistemological underpinnings and daily tribulations of times past, and Zancanella's writing does just that. This is a thought-provoking, well-researched account of American literary giants that never feels forced, too big for itself, or too heady. Highly recommend.

P.S. I have to disclose that the author of this novel was my MA and PhD advisor, the chair of my dissertation committee, and is a dear friend. It was delightful to read fiction by a professor I know so well. Reading his writing felt so much like conversing with him...I could hear his simple, declarative, and meaningful prose in his own voice as I read this. Such a joy.

[Dorene · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so lucky to have read an advance reader copy of this accurate historical novel, a treasure for American literature aficionados. All those icons of Transcendentalism led earnest and passionate lives during their young years. And the young women featured in this novel managed to lead vital intellectual and creative lives despite the era's inherent paternalistic repression. Loved it.

[Sally Brock · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating tale of mid 19th century Concord MA and a renown assembly of young writers and artists that became intellectual icons of their century. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, the Peabody sisters, Margaret Fuller, and Nathaniel Hawthorne - and more. Famous as they became we witness their young lives, all living in remarkably in the same communities. Their lives intersected in so many ways; in love interests, career choices, and family dramas in the growing New England towns of Concord, Salem and Boston. So immersive a book I felt transported back into their lives and times. Much of the book is based on personal journals which gives the book a delicious intimacy. While none of them were poor, neither were they ostentatiously wealthy. They lived in a time of horse drawn drays, phrenology, transcendentalism, but also a time when Scarlet Fever, and other illnesses were deadly. Having grown up in New England and steeped in much of their work (especially Emerson, Thoreau and Hawthorne), many of the locations were familiar to me and I yearned to have been there in those times. Loved every page. Now its time to re-read so many of their classics again!!

[Maggie Koger · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fictionalized history of the Thoreau, Emerson, Hawthorne and Peabody families tracking the romances of the younger set during the age of Transcendentalism, Brooke Farm, and Margaret Fuller's rise to influential heights. Well worth a read especially if you take a look at the Emerson House, the Old Manse and other sites through online history and museum sources. I was fortunate enough to visit Concord and Boston during a National Endowment for the Humanities Seminar at Amherst so the settings of the novel were already in place in my mind. What a joy to re-experience my journey through the literary era supports our claims of individual worth and the importance of nature to our wellbeing. A bargain!

[Landra · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoy historical fiction, you absolutely must read this book. Actually, if you just like to read well-crafted novels, you should read this book. Just don’t begin to read it as you go to bed, thinking you’ll finish just a chapter or two before you fall asleep. The premise and prose of this novel will seduce you.

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for fans of American lit. Lyrical, imaginative, and attuned to both nature and the human heart. Thank you, Don Zancanella, for writing the kind of book that had me torn between slowing down (to savor your ways with words) and speeding up (to learn what comes next in an intricate and intriguing plot). Beautifully written!

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

We all create fictional versions of favorite authors in our heads and I love to see how others feel about some of my favorite Transcendentalists. This book was delightful to read and I enjoyed spending some extra time with my dear Margaret Fuller and with Henry David Thoreau and Sophia Peabody Hawthorne.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story, both how it was told and the characters it focuses on.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very intriguing premise. Write the personal story of someone who lived over 100 years ago. I wonder if I could do that.