The Lost Constitution - Fun and Satisfaction

A novel about the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Second Amendment, the Boston Red Sox in the World Series, and the history of New England from Newport, Rhode Island to the White Mountains of New Hampshire to the great pine forests of Maine? That's a lot of narrative. And it's a quite a journey from Shays's Rebellion in 1786 to Fenway Park in the twenty-first century, but it's the kind of trip that my readers have come to expect of me, and it's what I set out to write in The Lost Constitution.

Since the hardcover publication last May, a lot of readers have taken the journey with me, and a lot of them have had as much fun reading as I did writing.

And that word, fun, is important. I have a sign over my desk: This is supposed to be fun. If it isn't, you won't want to read it. The characters must be interesting and likeable (or hateable). The plot must give us a sense that we're getting somewhere. It should accelerate toward a climax that leaves us breathless. And we should have a sense of satisfaction when it's over.

And there's another word that matters: satisfaction. A good story should operate on more than just that visceral level. Sure, I like to keep you turning pages and wondering what happens next, but I know that for the reader - and the writer - the real satisfaction of spending time with a story comes in the reflection. If you're left with something to think about when it's over, if you find yourself speculating about the fictional future of those fictional characters I created for you, then I've done my job. And we're both satisfied.

After you read The Lost Constitution, you might reflect on the stubbornness of the farmers who rebelled with Daniel Shays, or on the absolute bravery of the men of the 20th Maine who defended the Constitution by marching into the Confederate guns at Fredericksburg, or on the committment of the women who helped to push through the Nineteenth Amendment, which extended voting rights to women.

You might also appreciate the motivations of Peter Fallon. This is the third novel in which he has been the main character (Back Bay (1980) and Harvard Yard (2003) were the others). He's a dealer in rare books and documents. He lives in the present, but he believes that history matters, that we are a product of the past, of the grand movements of history and of the decisions of ancestors we don't even know. And if we can understand our history, maybe we can understand something about ourselves. That's why he hunts for The Lost Constitution.

And maybe that's why you should read it.

It's a modern thriller wrapped up in a historical novel. It's a journey through American history and a chase across modern New England. It' a page-turner that's plenty of fun. And it opens with the line "I am a good American." Then it defines the term by showing you good Americans in action. And meeting them, I hope, will bring you the kind of satisfaction that it brought me in the writing.

The Lost Constitution arrives in paperback this week, on June 3 to be exact. And I got to thinking about fun and satisfaction when I held this version for the first time. It has shiny silver lettering embossed into the cover. It's in the new Premium Mass Market format, larger than the old mass market format but not so large as the trade paperback, easier on the eyes than one, easier on the pocketbook than the other. It's a nice package, if I do say so myself. Whenever one of my books takes a new form, whether it's the hardcover or the audio version or maybe even a movie, it's another moment of satisfaction. I know I'll be reaching new readers. And I hope that they'll have as much fun on the journey as I did. 

Comments

[R J Pearson]

Dear William:

Though I'm rather late in submitting a comment on a post you wrote three months ago (on the date of my 36th birthday, no less), I wanted to let you know that I just purchased a paperback copy of "The Lost Constitution" and am enjoying it immensely. As yet I've only reached page 40, and I can state with all trueness that it's already "fun". Fun in the sense of being able to follow some exciting threads in one of the richest fabrics of our historical past as you have weaved them, a past which I have for most of my life been enthralled with.

In more recent years I've reflected more deeply (and lamented much) on how, in the present, the documents of America's Founding and the government(s) which followed them have sadly come to be viewed as existing for their own sakes, as ends unto themselves, when in reality the likes of Jefferson and those men of genuine conscience who signed the Declaration of Independence recognized that our Founding documents were actually affirmations of the ultimate and inviolable "Laws of Nature", which are the fundamental foundation -- "self evident" Truths -- for determining what is right and what is just in human affairs (which underscores the justification for Shays Rebellion, that demonstration against the travesty where man-written law and their enforcement violated what collective conscience, informed by reason, knew what is Naturally right and just). That the proper perspective on this fact needs to be reinvigorated is an understatement.

So I want to thank you for what I have already anticipated is going to be tremendous fun in "The Lost Constitution", a journey that I am confident will enrich my already deep reverence for the foundational principles of Nature which are embodied and affirmed in the Declaration, and (to a degree) championed by our impermanent Constitution.

R J PEARSON
9 September 2008

[billmartin]

Many thanks for your comments. I think that you get the meaning of "fun." If I can't engage you with the fun of character, plot, narrative, and suspense, I can't bring to you (and to myself in the process) the deeper satisfactions of a good novel. Hope you've continued to enjoy it.

[Criss Rundell]

I bought the Lost Constitution while I was in a grocery story waiting on a prescription. I have a minor in history so the book caught my attention. I started reading the book that day and finishe the book in 3 days. The charaters were amazing and the look back into history was a very unique way to really bring the present and the past together. Thank you for the best written book I read that was full of history and suspense at the same time. Now I will look to buy the 2 other books with Peter Fallon and his girl friend and I can not wait until the next Peter Fallon adventure.

[Judy]

Dear Mr. Martin,
The Lost Constitution is an awesome book. I will be looking for your previous novels. Thanks for your work and dedication to history.

[William Martin]

Thanks for your kindwords. I'm glad you liked the book. Another Peter and Evangeline adventure will be coming next May.