What if the Yankees hadn't won the Revolutionary War? That's the intriguing premise behind Andrea Cremer's new steampunk novel, "The Inventor's Secret," the first in a trilogy, due April 22, 2014.
Known for her wolves-and-witches series "Nightshade," Andrea uses her background as a history professor to inform and inspire this new epic, which takes place in an alternate 19th century.
"I'm very interested in what-ifs and the idea that there's so much about the world that we presume to be true or inevitable, and really history is very much about individual choices and accidents and all sorts of variables falling into place," Andrea told Hollywood Crush. "If you remove just one piece from that story, everything changes, so I wanted to take a really big piece, which is the American Revolution."
Set in 1816, "The Inventor's Secret" imagines a world in which the United States doesn't exist, and follows a band of teens—children of Revolutionaries—who are still trying to resist British encroachment.
"It's about the adventures that they have, both in trying to survive and keep themselves hidden, while at the same time, reaching the age where they can support their parents and make the choice to join the resistance if they so choose," Andrea explained.
And despite the novel taking place in a hypothetical realm, plenty of research went into the world-building to add authenticity—but not too much authenticity, according to Andrea:
"I tried to bring a lot of cultural pieces into it and a lot of historical reality, as well, while at the same time tweaking them to be recognizable yet obviously different, which I think creates a really provocative amount of dissonance."
Though you'll have to wait until next April to dive into Andrea's re-imagining of the 19th century, Hollywood Crush is pleased as punch to debut the cover for "The Inventor's Secret." (Just don't tell King George III you got it from us!)
Are you intrigued by Andrea's new novel? What do you think of the cover? Tell us in the comments and on Twitter!
