Patriot of the Lowcountry: Eliza Wilkinson and the Fall of Charleston
Available March 10, 2026
Eliza Wilkinson is no stranger to both privilege and heartbreak. Widowed at eighteen, she gained self-sufficiency while managing one of her father’s plantations. Now, at age twenty-two, marauding Redcoats destroy her home and hard-won independence.
With her family’s properties in ruins and their financial future threatened, Eliza’s father insists she seek the stability of a new marriage. As she reluctantly navigates the romance and intrigue of Charles Town’s social season, two very different men vie for her attention.
The Season’s revelries come to an end amid the chaos and terror of siege, and when the city falls to the British, Eliza joins other rebel ladies in relief work, intelligence gathering, and sabotage.
Danger mounts as the British banish and imprison patriots to quell civil unrest. Eliza learns of a military operation that could spell disaster for General Francis Marion, commander of the only significant rebel force left in South Carolina. Can she locate the elusive Swamp Fox and deliver a message of warning in time?
Based on Eliza Yonge Wilkinson’s letters that recount her experiences during the American Revolution.
What reviewers are saying:
“Lawson’s Patriot of the Lowcountry is historical fiction with spectacular details, and it is clear that Lawson has exhaustively researched the period. Everything in this story is intrinsically linked to real life, whether it is indigo processing from fermentation vats to pressed dye cakes, or codes embedded in social letters that demonstrate the power of female espionage. I loved Eliza and her ability to achieve agency through courageous operations and pushing through the marshland. Polly is equally up to the task and a master of calculated maneuvering, occasionally armed with opioids. Lawson’s greatest strength as a writer is in her truly cinematic landscapes, from the smell and claustrophobic atmosphere of a dungeon beneath the Exchange, to a swamp encampment along the Santee under cypress trees. Intelligently written, loaded with suspense, a bit of romance, and the resistance of women in wartime, this brilliant book carries with it the heart of Revolutionary literature. Very highly recommended.
In 1778, war is men’s business. That doesn’t stop Anna Stone from getting involved in the fight.
As the wife of a preacher-turned-soldier, a healer, and mother of three, Anna knows her place in this world. She tends to things at home while her husband and brothers fight for liberty. But when her loved ones face starvation at Valley Forge, she refuses to sit idly by.
Armed with life-sustaining supplies, Anna strikes out alone on horseback over 200 miles of rough and dangerous terrain. Despite perilous setbacks along the way, sheer determination carries her toward her destination. When she learns of a plot to overthrow General Washington, her mission becomes more important than ever. With the fate of the American Revolution in her hands and one of the conspirators hot on her trail, Anna races to deliver a message of warning to Valley Forge before it’s too late.
Based on events in the life of the author’s sixth-great-grandmother.
After supper one winter night in 1825, Anna and Benjamin Stone’s grandchildren gather around their rocking chairs. Hannah asks for a story about when her grandparents were young, and the children are delighted to hear about how Anna saved General Washington’s job and helped win the American Revolution. This is a version of Answering Liberty’s Call for younger readers.
On a spring afternoon in 1834, seven-year-old Annie Perkins and her mama visit Annie’s great-grandmother Sarah Fulton for a tea party. Annie learns an exciting story about the most important tea party ever held in Boston, the beginning of the rebellion that created a new nation, and a long-held family secret.
Cousins Hess Alston and Mary Pinkney learn how their grandmother Rebecca Motte relied on her wits, courage, and a quiver full of arrows to contribute to the American fight during the British occupation of Charleston, South Carolina. The girls can’t believe what Rebecca was willing to sacrifice to help General Francis Marion capture a British fort!
The night Nanye’hi was born, a white wolf came to the edge of her Cherokee village. To her people, this was a sign that the baby girl would someday be a powerful force for peace.
Honored with the title Beloved Woman when she was still in her teens, Nanye’hi was a tribal leader, a diplomat, and an early pioneer for women in American politics. Her powerful words helped win the American Revolution!
Nanye’hi, also known as Nancy Ward, was one of the most important women in the history of the Cherokee nation. Both Cherokee and American leaders would listen to her advice as she led her people through years of rapid change both before and after the American Revolution.
