Lifelong friends Jane Kamensky, chair of the history department at Brandeis University, and Jill Lepore, director of Harvard’s History and Literature Program, began writing Blindspot as a birthday present for their mentor, Yale historian John Demos. They finished the novel on a dare.
The Story: In 1764, the eve of the American Revolution, Stewart Jameson, a portraitist and notorious rake, arrives in Boston, having fled his native Edinburgh to avoid debtor’s prison. He swiftly sets up shop and hires a penniless orphan, Francis Weston, as an apprentice, unaware that Francis is actually Fanny, the disgraced (and disguised) daughter of a prominent local family. Completely fooled by the charade, the normally unflappable lothario grows increasingly flustered by his attraction to the "boy" when he suddenly becomes entangled in the murder of revolutionary leader Samuel Bradstreet. He enlists the help of his old friend Dr. Ignatius Alexander, the Oxford-educated son of African slaves, to solve the crime.
Spiegel & Grau. 512 pages. $24.95. ISBN: 0385526199
Boston Globe
"It is as rollicking as its model [William Hill Brown’s The Power of Sympathy (1789)] was tame, with a view of sexual matters that lands somewhere between 18th-century bawdy and present-day graphic, and a sense of place that is fully realized. … It is abundantly clear that Kamensky and Lepore had a grand time being clever, e-mailing twists of plot and splashes of dialogue back and forth between their academic offices and crosstown in Cambridge where both live." Michael Kenney
San Francisco Chronicle
"The result [of their collaboration] is a lusty romance, a murder mystery and a bit of Americana, all rolled into one big, fat historical romp. … Like its models, written for a pre-MTV mentality, this novel takes its time. But that wordiness is also its strength, as the book allows these characters to reveal themselves naturally." Clea Simon
Washington Post
"Being sprightly for close to 500 pages is harder than it might first seem, and even the most avid reader may begin to flag toward the end. But what an engaging way to relearn American history!" Carolyn See
San Diego Union-Tribune
"While this is a very smart book, it is not always an easy one to read. It shares some of the failures of the 18th-century novel, such as awkward plotting and over-the-top sentimentality." Molly McClain
Critical Summary
A tribute to—and a send-up of—18th-century melodramas, Blindspot addresses 21st-century themes while mimicking the bygone era’s literary techniques: first-person, epistolary narratives; adventure-studded storylines; and sensational plot twists, including mistaken meanings, hidden identities, and unexpected revelations. At the same time, Kamensky and Lepore skillfully capture the contrasts of early American history, particularly the colonists’ struggle to free themselves from British tyranny while blithely ignoring the growing African slave trade (Colonial America’s "blindspot"). Most critics were charmed by this witty, irreverent novel, though a couple expressed concerns over its length and overplotting. Despite the San Diego Union-Tribune’s admitted aversion to 18th-century literature, history buffs, fans of early fiction, and readers in search of a fun and clever book will thoroughly enjoy Blindspot.
Cited by the Critics
Pamela | Samuel Richardson (1740): Written as a series of letters, Pamela, a best seller of its time, tells the story of a poor maid who must defend her honor against the persistent advances of her wealthy master.