"Told from the double perspective of two of Patrick Henry's daughters, this is the compelling story of a family's personal tragedy during the American Revolution. With the country in political turmoil, the father is away from home leaving the children to deal with their mother's downward spiral into madness. Sixteen-year-old Patsy begins the story, "I was the first in the family to know when Mama started to go insane." She holds the burden of an oldest child and rules her younger siblings with too much force. From another perspective, nine-year-old Anne protects her mother who has been confined to the cellar in a strait dress. Anne is torn between telling the truth and protecting someone she loves. She is also hiding the identity of the sibling who may inherit this same disease. The concepts of mental illness and familial tension have been provocatively detailed in this engrossing piece of historical fiction. An author's note and a bibliography are included in a book that will surely provide food for thought."