I was sad to hear about the death of the novelist John Jakes who passed away on March 11, 2023. He was a prolific writer best known for his Kent Family Chronicles series of historical novels. There were 8 books in this series where we follow the fictional Kent Family and their descendents from the American Revolution to the 1890's Gilded Age.
I read Jakes' first novel The Bastard (reviewed on Feb 19, 2019). It was well written and I learned a good deal about the lead up to the American Revolution. John Jakes worked history into his novels seamlessly knowing that the characters and the plot were key and it is fascinating to follow a family like the Kents through many generations and see how their grandchildren, great grandchildren, great great grandchildren turned out.
It was always my plan to read deeper into the Kent series and now I plan to. John Jakes will be missed.
Nice tribute. I haven't read John Jakes but I like historical fiction and his books sound good. It is sad when a novelist like this passes. ugh.
ReplyDeleteThanks. John Jakes in his novels really did the research about what the time period was like and he writes very well which is the most important thing. It is sad when a novelist passes. Jakes had a long life and it sounds like a happy one so that's good
ReplyDeleteThat's sad. While I've never read any of his books, I've certainly been aware of them and their popularity!
ReplyDeleteHi Lark, It is sad and in 2021 we lost Beverly Cleary and Larry McMurty. I have John Jakes' California Gold on my TBR list and I have always wanted to learn more about the California gold rush. I also must read more Ramona and get around to reading Lonesome Dove which I have heard great things about.
DeleteI have heard of John Jakes but did not know much about him and his writing. He certainly wrote a lot of books and was very successful at his writing.
ReplyDeleteHe was very successful and he was a good writer. I only read his first book, The Bastard, in his Kent Family Chronicles series which deals with the lead up to the American Revolution but it was well written and historically interesting
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