Light a Distant Fire is a 1988 historical novel

Historical novel

According to Encyclopædia Britannica, a historical novel is-Development:An early example of historical prose fiction is Luó Guànzhōng's 14th century Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which covers one of the most important periods of Chinese history and left a lasting impact on Chinese culture.The...

 by Lucia St. Clair Robson

Lucia St. Clair Robson

-Literary biography:Lucia St. Clair Robson was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and grew up in West Palm Beach, Florida. She has been a Peace Corps Volunteer in Venezuela, a teacher in New York City, and a librarian in Annapolis, Maryland. She has also lived in Japan, South Carolina, and Arizona...

 that fictionalizes the story of the Second Seminole War

Second Seminole War

The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between various groups of Native Americans collectively known as Seminoles and the United States, part of a series of conflicts called the Seminole Wars...

, Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...

, and the charismatic leader Osceola

Osceola

Osceola, also known as Billy Powell , became an influential leader with the Seminole in Florida. He was of Creek, Scots-Irish and English parentage, and had migrated to Florida with his mother after the defeat of the Creek in 1814.Osceola led a small band of warriors in the Seminole resistance...

, warchief of the Seminole

Seminole

The Seminole are a Native American people originally of Florida, who now reside primarily in that state and Oklahoma. The Seminole nation emerged in a process of ethnogenesis out of groups of Native Americans, most significantly Creeks from what is now Georgia and Alabama, who settled in Florida in...

tribe..

Plot introduction

Born into a nation at war, Osceola is saved from the sword by his grandmother. As he grows up, watching the white man desecrate the land which his people have considered their own for generations, he swears to save his tribe from the destruction

Plot summary

Osceola had no illusions that the struggle would be an easy one. But after years of humbly acquiescing to the white men's demands, he was ready to fight no matter what the cost. The young men would have the chance to earn war honors. Their women would have reason to be proud of them again.

When "Old Man" Jackson declared war on the Seminole, he never envisioned battling a people who would become symbols of courage, loyalty, and patriotism. Led by the mighty warrior Osceola and witnessed by his beloved daughter Little Warrior, they were men and women fighting an unjust war of greed and aggression—and the bonds of love and rebellion that united them would thrust them into the heart of a conflict that would change the world and their lives forever.

Characters in "Light a Distant Fire"

• Osceola – main protagonist
• Little Warrior – daughter to Osceola

Literary significance & criticism

"Robson is especially good at detailing the daily life of the 19th Century Seminoles and her Osceola is a charismatic and proud hero." -- The Orlando Sentinel

External links

• For Book Club Discussion Points, background information, and an excerpt, see author's website: Light a Distant Fire