Category: historical fiction

I’m delighted to welcome Brodie Curtis and his book, Showboat Soubrette, to the blog with a guest post.

Guest Post

SHOWBOAT SOUBRETTE is my third historical novel set in the riverboat era on the lower Mississippi River prior to the Civil War. To learn about the period, I dug into a variety of research sources that are listed below. I truly got energized to tell my story by taking a drive along the Big Muddy, from Hannibal down to Natchez, stopping frequently at historical sites, and along the river itself. Had to feel it!

UNDERSTANDING THE ANTEBELLUM DEEP SOUTH:

Romanticism of the Antebellum American Deep South could be found in the pageantry of the attire worn by the privileged, and in the heady adornment of passenger-hauling riverboats that paddle-wheeled the Mississippi. But the period exhibited almost unbelievable cruelty in its institution of slavery and in the bigoted attitudes of the times. And in its violence. Perhaps the first title listed below, Olmsted’s The Cotton Kingdom illuminates these contradictions best.

Olmsted, F. (1861). The Cotton Kingdom: A Traveller’s Observations on Cotton and Slavery in the American Slave States 1853-1861. 

McDermott, J. (“Edited with an Introduction and Forward”) ( 1968). Before Mark Twain: A Sampler of Old, Old Times on the Mississippi.

Stowe, H.B. (1852). Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Northup, S. (1853). 12 Years a Slave.

Devol, G. (1894). Forty Years a Gambler on the Mississippi.

Jones-Rogers, S. (2019). They Were Her Property: White Women as Slave Owners in the American South.

James, D.C. (1968). Antebellum Natchez.

Kelleher Schafer, J. (2009). Brothels, Depravity, and Abandoned Women: Illegal Sex in Antebellum New Orleans.

Sharp, A. and Sharp, G. (2009). Antebellum Myths and Folklore: A Search for the Truth.

Grant, R. (2020). The Deepest South of All: True Stories from Natchez, Mississippi.

RIVERBOATS:

Is there a more majestic image than a multi-decked steamboat gliding on the river, smoke billowing from its stacks while water clicks over its paddles? Yet idyllic portraits belied the dangers, from collisions and boiler explosions to snags, sandbars, fire and ice and other in climate conditions. Thousands of boats ended up at the bottom of the river. Mark Twain’s memoir of his cub pilot days and old images in many of the sources below sparked my imagination.

Twain, M. (1883). Life on the Mississippi. 

Powers, R. (2005). Mark Twain: A Life.

Shapiro, D. (2009). Historic Photos of Steamboats on the Mississippi.

Graham, P. (1951). Showboats: The History of an American Institution.

Allen, M. (1990). Western Rivermen, 1763-1861: Ohio and Mississippi Boatmen and the Myth of the Alligator Horse.

Lloyd, J. (1855). Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory, and Disasters on the Western Waters.

Hawkins, V. (2016). Smoke up the River: Steamboats and the Arkansas Delta.

Berger Erwin, V. and Erwin, J. (2020). Steamboat Disasters of the Lower Missouri River.

Sandlin, L. (2010). Wicked River: The Mississippi When it Last Ran Wild.
Buck, R. (2023). Life on the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure.

Here’s the Blurb

FROM STAR SHOWBOAT SINGER 
TO PIRATE PREY ON THE WICKED RIVER!

Showboat singer Stella Parrot’s star rises in the Antebellum South with every sold-out performance along the lower Mississippi River. When a river pirate viciously assaults her, new friends Toby Freeman and John Dee Franklin foil the attack. However, the pirate’s family is bent on revenge.

Stella, Toby, and John Dee escape their riverboat with able assistance from young cub pilot Sam Clemens, only to be pursued by the notorious Burton Gang. As the trio runs for their lives, mortal perils await at every turn: a fierce storm, high-stakes gambling confrontations, deadly combat, and a cotton boat up in flames. Stella, a Cherokee Indian, and Toby, a free Black man, and their friend White man John Dee endure relentless racial prejudices and injustices in the gritty underbelly of the Wicked River while fleeing to New Orleans—where the Burtons will be waiting!

SHOWBOAT SOUBRETTE’s fast-paced lower river adventure chase features romantic showboat scenes and is unsparing in its exploration of the bigoted and sometimes lawless riverboat era.

Praise:

“Captivating characters? A fast-paced storyline? Cameos from historical figures? Brodie Curtis checks all the boxes in his novel set along the Mississippi River on the eve of the Civil War. Well done.”

• Tim Wendell, author of CASTRO’s CURVEBALL and REBEL FALLS

“SHOWBOAT SOUBRETTE is a novel that transcends a simple river chase, unfolding instead as a richly textured portrait of time and place where beauty and brutality are forced to coexist. Brodie Curtis has crafted a story that entertains without simplifying, thrills without trivializing, and ultimately delivers a powerful testament to courage and solidarity on the margins of history…For readers who crave historical fiction with pace and teeth, this novel will be a compelling and unforgettable ride.”

• THE HISTORICAL FICTION COMPANY

“This was an unputdownable read for me!…It’s an optimistic picture of a shocking time in American history….SHOWBOAT SOUBRETTE is ideal for fans of historical adventure fiction, especially fans of Twain himself and Percival Everett’s JAMES.”

• Ruth F. Stevens, author of STAGE SEVEN and THE SOUTH BAY SERIES Books 1 and 2

“Readers of historical fiction will love SHOWBOAT SOUBRETTE…a river adventure down the great Mississippi to New Orleans in the 1850s when racial tension is ripe in the Old South…an adventure worthy of Mark Twain’s pen… Curtis is a master of description and atmosphere.”

• Tyler R. Tichelaar, PhD and award-winning author of THE MYSTERIES OF MARQUETTE

“(E)xtensive research draws the reader in and carries them along on this fast-paced adventure, blending interesting historical facts with compelling fictional characters. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey and recommend this voyage down the mighty Mississippi.”

• Kris Abel-Helwig, author of THE HERO SERIES and the upcoming RULE OF ODDS.

Buy Link

Universal Link

This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited

Meet the Author

Raised in the Midwest, Brodie Curtis was educated as a lawyer and left the corporate world to embrace life in Colorado with his wife and two sons. 

Curtis is the author of THE FOUR BELLS, a novel of The Great War, which is the product of extensive historical research, including long walks through the fields of Flanders, where much of the book’s action is set. His second novel, ANGELS AND BANDITS, takes his protagonists into The Battle of Britain. Curtis’ third novel is set on a Mississippi Riverboat prior to the Civil War.

A lover of history, particularly American history and the World Wars, Curtis reviews historical fiction for the Historical Novels Review and more than 100 of his published reviews and short takes on historical novels can be found on his website: brodiecurtis.com.  

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