Obstinate Daughters Giveaway: LIVE NOW!
FREE GIVEAWAY ALERT – 30 COPIES! — As I’ve mentioned here before, my wife, Denise Kiernan, is releasing her newest narrative‑nonfiction title, OBSTINATE DAUGHTERS: The Rebels, Writers, and Renegade Women Who Ignited the American Revolution, (Penguin Random House) on June 23, 2026. From Feb. 2 – Feb. 23, 2026, you can enter to win one of 30 ARCS (advanced reader copies) in the official Goodreads giveaway.
Here’s the link:
Obstinate Daughters Goodreads Giveaway
If you already have a Goodreads account, it’s a no-brainer. Their giveaways are stupidly easy to enter—just one click. But I have found that finding a specific book on offer is still somewhat tricky. So use the damn link.
Why would you want to read the book? I can think of 7 reasons:
Meet the woman who went to war disguised as a man—and kept a friendship with her commanding general even after he learned of her secret!
Meet the woman who raised the equivalent of $4 million today for Washington’s army…by publishing an inspiring broadside and urging women nationwide to raise money going door‑to‑door.
Meet the woman who wrote paeans to Liberty—while she herself lived in bondage.
Meet the woman who printed the original Declaration of Independence—and later lost her job because she wasn’t a man.
Meet the woman who assisted her husband in betraying his own country. (Why, howdy, Mrs. Benedict Arnold!)
Meet the Native‑American woman who taught Continental soldiers at Valley Forge how to forage for sustenance in the wilderness.
Meet the woman who donned her husband’s cast-off clothing, and captured British couriers as they rode through her hometown.
If you enjoy “recovered history,” you might want to get this book for your summer reading. I have looked into this a fair amount, and right now it looks like Denise’s may be the only book of its kind coming out in time for 2026’s SesterCentennial.
If you need a refresher: In 2026 the United States marks its 250th anniversary, which is linked to July 4, 1776, the date that most Americans associate with the nation’s founding.
Thanks for stopping by. And if you do land one of these books, please let us know what you think of it!
Click image to pre-order book at Amazon. (affiliate link)
Some fun facts about the book that Denise discusses in her intro:
In the book, Denise tells the story of how, when she was a little girl, she attended a Fourth of July parade celebrating the Bicentennial, America’s 200th Birthday. Excited about the day she had been learning about for months in school, she settled back to watch, hoping to get some idea of how she, a young girl, might play a role in the day’s festivities. Even at that young age, she was astute enough to realize that there were very few role models for girls in that parade. She remembers a marching group of Betsy Rosses, who were miming the knitting of a giant U.S. flag. A pretty dumb visual, if you ask me, but the image stayed with her. It was as if her country, circa 1976, was sending the message that girls and women had and have nothing to contribute to the making of a nation except traditional women’s work.
She knew that message had to be wrong. But it was such an overpowering message that when she started researching the book more than five years ago, she wondered if she would find enough women to populate a narrative nonfiction book of substance.
She need not have worried. She discovered way too many women to feature. The ones who made the cut were especially noteworthy. You’ll see when you read the book.
If you are not inclined to try for the giveaway, I’ll mention that the book is now on “pre-order” at all online retailers. Pre-ordering a book means that if you order now, it will be delivered to your device or doorstep on Pub Date. If nothing else, use this opportunity to check out what the book is all about. Some of the links I’ll share will be affiliate links, as usual.
Here’s the cover in all its glory…
Click, clicky, Yankee Doodle Dandy!
Two ways to get the book:
Unless Denise is coming to a bookstore near you, the best way to get a signed copy is to order from Malaprop’s, the indie bookstore in our hometown of Asheville, North Carolina. They are a great small business, and they have been delivering Denise’s books to happy customers for something like 15 years without a hitch. So you can’t go wrong. If you think you would like the book inscribed a certain way to a friend or family member, I personally, recommend phoning the store to make sure they have all those details down correctly.
Click to visit Denise’s website and see all her books.
