Hello friend! Today I am chatting with author, Kerrin Willis, about her latest historical fiction book, Iron & Fire.
Get to know the authors: Kerris
Welcome to Armed with A Book, Kerrin! Tell me and my readers a bit about yourself!
I’m a full time writer, full time high school english teacher, and full time single mom from southeastern Massachusetts in the US. I don’t think I’ve had a full night of sleep since 2013!
I pride myself on being a feminist and a strong protagonist in my own story, and I would probably have been burned as a witch in colonial New England, where my book is set. I can usually be found pausing The Little Mermaid and subjecting my daughters to a lecture on the
dangers of giving up their voices.
I have a BA in English from Stonehill College, and MA in English from Simmons College, and I am currently working on her MFAin Fiction from Southern New Hampshire University.
What inspired you to write this book?
I’ve always been interested in history. I love the idea that land holds memory, and that the dirt we walk on has witnessed thousands of years of human history. Although much has changed over the centuries, human nature has remained largely the same. As a feminist, I couldn’t help but wonder how a bright, independent, opinionated woman would have faired in the seventeenth century when my hometown was founded. Then Verity popped into my head, nearly fully formed, and she took it from there.
How long did it take you to write this book, from the first idea to the last edit?
I started writing the novel in February of 2019, and finished in the summer of 2021, so it took me a little over two years.
What makes your story unique?
So many war-time stories are told from the male perspective. This story, however, is told from the perspective of a nineteen-year-old young woman who questions the Puritan ideals of her time, and who urges others to see that in a war, no one wins. My main character is just as ballsy and impulsive as anyone from our time, but she lives in a period when those qualities aren’t just undervalued but are downright dangerous.
Who would enjoy reading your book?
Anyone who enjoys a good story will enjoy this book. It’s historical fiction with a dash of romance, but I like to consider it historical women’s fiction because it explores the everyday lives of colonial women during the bloodiest war per capita in American history. No one was writing down women’s experiences, their fears, or their dreams. All the history is written from the perspective of the men.
What’s something you hope readers would take away from it?
I hope readers take away the idea that there’s always more to the story than what’s in the history books. The majority of King Philip’ War was recorded by the white men who “won” – this novel gives us a chance to hear from a young woman who sees what is happening as wrong, but can’t do much about it.
Do you have a favourite quote or scene in the book that you find yourself going back to?
I love the development of Verity and Kit’s relationship. She has very little interest in marriage and views it as an inevitable burden, but that all changes when she meets Kit. She’s used to being underestimated, so Kit’s interest in her ideas and opinions completely throws her.
Iron & Fire
1675 — Plymouth Colony — Verity Parker promised to look after her family.
Raised among the bookshops and turmoil of Reformation London, Verity now finds herself in Puritan New England, where she must learn to keep her head down and her mouth shut, or risk dire consequences. The only person who values her tenacity is Kit, the heretical ironworker she has been forbidden to see. When King Philip’s War breaks out, Verity must stay silent as the Puritan elders spread hateful rhetoric about the “savages” in the forest. When she witnesses a young girl die in childbirth, Verity must stand by as neighbors blame God’s vengeance. But when tragedy strikes her own home, Verity must choose between her duty to her family and her love for Kit. Will she choose to keep the peace,or will she defy the leaders of the colony for a chance at happiness?
Set against the backdrop of King Philip’s War, the bloodiest war per capita in American history, Iron & Fire explores the experience of a clever, educated woman at a time when being so often resulted in death. Perfect for fans of Amy Belding Brown’s Flight of the Sparrow, or Elizabeth George Speare’s The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Iron & Fire was written for those who read the original American Girl series as children and are now all grown up.
Content Notes: parent loss.
Book Excerpt from
Iron & Fire
Context: Kit feels like he must join the colonial militia and fight the Wampanoags, but Verity urges him to see the futility of war.
Chapter 25
“They’re calling for men to train under Cudworth.”
Verity had been laying in the grass, engaged in a volume of Dr. Faustus Kit had lent her, when his voice pulled her from medieval Wittenberg and back to a grazing pasture in New England on a summer morning.
He had been unusually quiet today, Verity was learning that Kit’s thoughts could not be pried from him until he was ready to speak, and so she had settled into companionable silence next to him and read her book, confident that he would unburden himself when he could.
“Cudworth?” She turned on her side to face him. “The assistant governor to Winslow?”
“Aye.” Unlike Verity, who lay in the grass on her side, her elbow braced on the ground and her hand supporting her head, Kit sat up straight, knees tucked into his chest, gazing through the cattle on the other side of the fence. “Winslow’s made him commander of the militia.”
“And he wants more men?”
“He does. A man came by the forge last night, intent on telling us that we need to do our duty to God and king.”
“And…..will you?” She asked hesitantly, knowing the answer but still fearing the surety of it.
Kit continued to stare into the distance for so long that Verity wasn’t sure he had heard her question. After what seemed like an eternity, he raised his hands, vigorously wiping his face as if to cleanse himself of something, and replied,
“Aye”, and then a beat later, “I will.”
Verity wasn’t sure how to respond, so she let the silence lay between them.
“What choice do I have? This is an Englishman’s war, and I am an Englishman. You haven’t seen what I have, Verity. The things the savages have done. The men who run the colony might not accept me with my strange ways and my long hair, but they’re not the ones that I fear will assault you as you walk to the henhouse or set fire to your house while you sleep.”
Verity wanted to argue, to say that she could protect herself, but she knew she could not. Not from this threat, and not from—
“What about Betsy Kilton? Who did she need protection from? I don’t think it was the Indians.”
The words burst out of Verity’s mouth before she even considered them, and after a moment of shock, she realized that her words held more than a kernel of truth. Emboldened, she continued:
“I’ve grown tired of various groups claiming the moral high ground. The Puritans, the King’s men, the Catholics— and I’m sure the Indians too if we were to ask them. Everyone thinks that he is following the ideal path to salvation, but who among us is willing to quiet himself enough to listen to what is right?”
She paused to consider before continuing, knowing that Kit might think she was verging on blasphemy, but finding that she didn’t much care. Her frustration urged the words forward again.
“Reverend Stone believes he reads the words of God himself in his Bible. The Pope thinks God dwells in his relics and his idols. The King would have us believe that he takes divine direction straight from heaven, and the men we call heathens believe that the creator is all around us. Why must only one be right? And why must we extinguish the lights of those who don’t believe what we do?”
She was about to continue, caught up in the moment and thrilled to finally give voice to the questions she’d been holding in for as long as she could remember, when Kit turned and, cupping his hand beside her face, kissed her with all the intensity he had been holding back since he first saw her.
Verity was momentarily shocked, startled out of her impassioned rant by the sudden feeling of Kit’s mouth on hers. His lips were softer than she’d imagined they would be, impossibly soft, with a tremor indicating the strength that lay behind them. For the briefest of moments, Verity felt a stab of panic in her gut. — I don’t know how to do this!— but within an instant she was kissing him back, her lips following his.
He tasted of strawberries, she thought as she struggled to sit up and maintain a more comfortable position. The fierceness with which she had been arguing a moment before channeled itself into the kiss. This was also something she could believe in. She opened her mouth, just slightly to change position, when she felt his tongue touching hers.
Is that supposed to happen?
In theory the idea of someone else’s tongue in her mouth was disturbing, but in practice it was…..intoxicating. Soft.
Should I move my own tongue? Am I doing this right?
Verity briefly considered asking Kit if she was kissing correctly, but she didn’t want to stop long enough to find out. And what if he said that she wasn’t and then didn’t want to kiss her again? Then what?
Kit pulled back, a question in his eyes.
“I’m….I didn’t mean to surprise you.”
“You didn’t.”
“I didn’t? You were expecting me to kiss you?”
“No…”
“No?”
“Well, I didn’t know you were going to do it just then.” She was flustered. “ I thought you might, at some point, you know. I’m not a child.” She jutted out her chin in a defiant gesture that she hoped indicated maturity. “You asked to court me, so I assumed you would kiss me.”
Kit’s eyes creased in a smile, and Verity felt a sudden urge to touch the curls at his temples, but she didn’t know if that would be too forward.
“And did you like it when I kissed you?”
“Did I do it right?” she blurted out without thinking. “I didn’t know if I was doing it right, but I didn’t want to ask because I didn’t want to stop, and then you stopped and -.”
He cut her off, kissing her again with an agonizing slowness that eliminated all question of technique and finesse. There was just Kit and Verity, and suddenly she understood the wild eyed, dazed look Hannah sometimes had when she returned from a walk with Sam.
They broke apart, and Kit leaned his forehead against hers, still rubbing the side of his thumb along her cheek.
“There is enough fire in you to smelt all the iron in this colony, Verity Parker.”
Verity shrugged, momentarily shy. “My stepfather would say I’m filled with the fires of hell.”
“Your stepfather is a fool.”
“I agree.”
Kit laughed at her candor. “And you don’t suffer fools gladly.”
“Not pompous ones who are so occupied with pointing out splinter in their neighbor’s eye that they can not see the beam in their own,” she observed wryly.
“Like the Governor?” Kit asked, arching an eyebrow.
“Among others. Winthrop, Cudworth, Stone, Mather….” She trailed off. “But you’ll fight?”
He sighed.
“I don’t see as I have much of a choice.”
Interested?
Find this book on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, An Unlikely Story. You can also add it to your bookshelf on Goodreads and check it out on Indie Story Geek.
Thank you so much for hanging out with us today! Connect with Kerrin on her website (sign up for the newsletter using the link), Goodreads and Amazon. You can also find her on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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