The King’s Salt

About the Book

It’s 1778, and the American Revolutionary War is three years old. In this fourth book of the award-winning Smithyman Saga, Sir Thomas Smithyman and his friends still consider themselves honor-bound to remain loyal. They continue their bitter civil war against former friends, neighbours and family for four more years, trying to regain their homes and land in what has become New York State. But Thomas and friends, his wife Nancy and their children, along with his stepmother, the fierce Mohawk Princess Laura Silverbirch and her war chief brother, Matthew, lose everything to the triumphant Patriots. Now refugees, they must fight betrayal by a thankless government, despair, hunger and isolation to reconstruct their lives and create a new place for themselves and their children in the northern wilderness.

About the Author

David was educated at University of Waterloo (BA History) and Queen’s University (MPA and MA History). He is a graduate of the Humber School for Writers, and an award-winning historical novelist. A sailor since the age of 13, he has always loved fooling around with boats, and constructed a 32-foot yacht from scratch. David is married and has a daughter, and lives with his wife, Donna, near the waterfront in Kingston, Ontario, in an 1850s limestone house that they are “continuously improving.” David is proud to have logged several weeks as a volunteer, deckhand, cook and occasional helmsman for the square-rigger St. Lawrence II, the platform for Kingston’s highly successful traditional youth sail-training program.