The Last Royals of Portsmouth

About the Book

The Last Royals of Portsmouth is a work of historical fiction that imagines the complex relationship between Royal Governor John Wentworth and his beautiful, ambitious wife, Frances. The novel places the reader in the middle of the six years between their marriage and their forced, hasty late-night departure from Portsmouth in June 1775 to escape the fury of a raucous crowd of Patriots bent on eliminating all vestiges of royal control from New Hampshire. The romantic fictional portrayals of Irish immigrant Tommy Mullins and Lucie Wentworth, the outcast adopted niece of John Wentworth, symbolize the rising tide of human will and destiny to pursue liberty and progress despite humble beginnings. The novel’s vivid portrayal of the Battle of Bunker Hill in the last chapter is a testament to its immersive storytelling. The novel is historically accurate but permits the reader to delve into the minds and emotions of prominent figures and events that led up to the Revolutionary War.

About the Author

Author of two prior novels delving into the mysterious Indian civilization of several millennia past, and creator of an epic work of historical fiction relating to the history of Portsmouth, Jim Polus turns his attention to the powerful romance of the last royal governor of New Hampshire and his beautiful influential wife. Jim Polus graduated from Hobart College and Columbia University and is a retired executive from IBM. An ardent love of cycling on NH seacoast roads fuels the author’s themes of human purpose, conflicts of love and power and the charm of colonial America.