Obstinate Daughters

The Rebels, Writers, and Renegade Women Who Ignited the American Revolution

By: Denise Kiernan

Narrated by: Denise Kiernan

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Girls of Atomic City and The Last Castle comes a sweeping chronicle challenging the traditional mythology of the nation's beginnings and championing the unsung women behind the American Revolution.

History has always celebrated the "Founding Fathers"—the sly but victorious tactics of Washington, the daring exploits of Lafayette, the grand ideas of Jefferson. Yet we rarely hear of the women who kept the colonies running and liberty alive. Obstinate Daughters finally rewrites the story of America’s birth by revealing the courageous, resourceful women whose actions shaped a nation. From the battlefields to the printing press, from the plantations to the pulpit, these women fought, spied, published, preached, farmed, organized. From the front lines to the home front, from the colonies to the frontier, these unsung heroines turned the tide.

In Obstinate Daughters, readers will meet women who armed themselves and took matters into their own hands to defend their town. A Cherokee leader who warned patriot settlements of looming attacks, risking the lives of her own people in the process. A British spy at the center of a plot to assassinate George Washington. Enslaved women who risked their lives while fighting a parallel battle for their own freedom, embodying the very ideals the revolution claimed to uphold. The only woman to have her name on the Declaration of Independence. And many more.

As she has done so many times before, Kiernan masterfully weaves these individual stories together into a single, compelling narrative and carves a place in history for these impactful females. With journalistic rigor and narrative flair, Kiernan reminds us that the past is always open to challenge, and that every untold story can inspire a new generation.

Critic reviews

"Obstinate Daughters uncovers American history as we rarely see it: Through the eyes of women who rose to the occasion and proved their love of country, even when their country did not always love them back. I learned something new on nearly every page." —Kate Andersen Brower, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of The Residence and We The Women

"In Obstinate Daughters, Denise Kiernan delivers a lively and illuminating portrait of the women behind the American Revolution. These often overlooked figures emerge not as footnotes but as driving forces — bold, strategic, and indispensable to the birth of a nation." —Gilbert King, Pulitzer prizewinning author of Devil in the Grove

“Denise Kiernan does it again, this time turning her flair for colorful storytelling, her delight in immersive research, and unstinting eye for detail to America's Founding Mothers, Daughters, Wives, Sisters, and General Badass Women. With Obstinate Daughters, Kiernan brings to vibrant life the previously hidden stories of some extraordinary women on all sides of the Revolution, from spies and businesswomen to preachers, poets, and propagandists. It's a fascinating and necessary look at the mythology of America's founding, and Kiernan compellingly makes it clear that the stories of women were no mere subplot in the American origin story, but were actually driving the narrative the entire time.” —Brian Jay Jones, New York Times bestselling author of Jim Henson, Becoming Dr. Seuss and The Capitol

"Kiernan’s sizzling intelligence and meticulous research are evident on every page of Obstinate Daughters, which retrieves voices not only marginalized by history but previously lost to it. A deeply absorbing read." —Elizabeth Kostova, New York Times bestselling author of The Historian and The Shadow Land

“Meticulously researched and vividly drawn, Denise Kiernan’s Obstinate Daughters shares the stories of the everyday patriots whose courage powered the American Revolution and whose contributions have slipped through the cracks of history. Kiernan introduces us to the soldiers, spies, publishers, poets, entrepreneurs and passionate firebrands who shaped the war we think we know—and forged a nation yearning to be free. A tantalizing and stirring read.” —Abbott Kahler, New York Times bestselling author of Eden Undone