CRP's Blog

Brandon Marie Miller has been a history buff essentially since birth. Her parents, both teachers, took her on frequent trips to museums and historical sites, she studied American history and art history at Purdue, and she’s written nine history books for children and young adults, including Benjamin Franklin: American Genius and Women of the Frontier. Her most recent book, Women of Colonial America: 13 Stories of Courage and Survival in the New World, publishes February 1. Here she talks about a few of the sites and authors that helped inform that book and her others.

You’ve visited countless historical homes, villages, and battlefields in your life. What have been some of your favorites?

So many. I love George Washington’s home, Mount Vernon. We were there in February, back when I was researching George Washington for Kids. Somehow, my husband and I ended up alone with the tour guide. So, she went off script and I asked questions and she shared her own research. It was lovely. It’s also very exciting now at the newly discovered site of the original Jamestown fort in Virginia. Archaeologists have recovered about two million artifacts so far as well as original building foundations and several bodies. They can tell so much from those bones—it’s truly amazing. I was writing about Pocahontas and Cicely Jordan for Women of Colonial America, so that was a great visit. Another memorable moment while researching Women of Colonial America was an evening concert performed on 18th-century instruments in the ballroom of the Governor’s Palace in Colonial Williamsburg. The performers wore period clothing, and the room glowed with candle light.

Given your work and interests, you probably read a lot of historical nonfiction. Who are the authors in that camp who inspire you the most?

I love the story of history and enjoy reading biographies. The best authors tell a great story while weaving in their research. I also appreciate hearing people’s own voices from the past through primary sources. Walter Isaacson’s Benjamin Franklin is one of my favorite popular histories. I was thrilled when he wrote a blurb for my children’s book, Benjamin Franklin, American Genius. Mary Beth Norton, Laurel Ulrich, and Lillian Schlissel have written some of my favorite books about women’s history in colonial America and the American West. Dee Brown’s book, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, which I read in high school, left a deep impression on me. Steve Sheinkin, Candace Fleming, Jim Murphy, and Russell Freedman are some of my favorite writers of history for young people.

Do you take inspiration from any authors or books outside the historical nonfiction genre?

When I’m not reading for research, I love a good mystery. Maybe not surprisingly, many of the mystery series I’ve enjoyed are set in past times. Anne Perry’s mysteries take place in Victorian England, Lindsey Davis’s books take place in ancient Rome, and Elizabeth Peter’s stories feature archaeologists in Egypt at the turn of the 20th century. I’ve learned something from all of them. I also enjoy historical fiction like the recent books from Hilary Mantel, which create a sense of history—time, place, dress, manners, even though historical authors takes some liberties to create their characters and tell their tales. As a kid I was drawn to historicals like Elizabeth Speare’s The Witch of Blackbird Pond or period books like Little Women and anything by Jane Austen.

What’s the last book you canceled your plans to keep reading?

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Everyone in my family was reading it at the same time in different rooms.

Literary confession time: What’s a book you’ve faked reading?

I can’t really think of one. I guess I’m a nerdy goody-two-shoes.

What’s your guilty pleasure/I-can’t-believe-I-read-that book?

Old-fashioned gothic romances like the books of Victoria Holt. I devoured those as a teen. A brooding hero, a curious young woman, a house on the moors or overlooking the crashing sea …

What five people—living, dead, fiction, nonfiction—would you have over for your dream dinner?

I’ve always loved Tudor England. I’d have to start with Henry VIII (before he became an obese tyrant), Anne Boleyn, and their daughter, the future Queen Elizabeth I. They definitely need some family counseling so that Anne could keep her head at the end of the day. I’m counting these royals as one invitation. And, because I’ve written about them and loved them, I’d have to invite George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. Just to hear what their voices sound like would be amazing. Of course, Henry VIII would be horrified to sit down with such rebels, but Franklin spent years in England, so they’d have much to talk about. I’d also love to meet Lakota chief Crazy Horse, whom I’ve admired since childhood, though the record says he was rather quiet, so he might listen more than converse. Next at the table, “Aunt” Clara Brown, whom I wrote about in Women of the Frontier. Formerly enslaved, she bought her freedom and became an early Colorado pioneer. She must have had enormous faith and resilience, and it would be interesting to see how Washington, a slave owner who freed his slaves upon his death, would interact with Clara.

What are you reading now, and what’s next on your to-be-read pile?

I’m reading Michelangelo, A Life in Six Masterpieces, by Miles J. Unger. Next is an award-winning middle-grade novel, Splendors and Glooms, by Laura Amy Schlitz, and I hope to read Sue Grafton’s new mystery soon.

—compiled by Geoff George

Women of Colonial America officially pubs February 1. It will be available wherever books (and e-books) are sold, including our website.