be Useful

James Sveck is a lonely young adult in the summer before he goes off to college at Brown University. Apart from hanging with his grandmother James prefers solitude. The story is told in the first person narration which helps give an intimate inside view of James as he works through his life at the therapy sessions which his parents insist he goes to. We learn about James's past and present through the stories he tells and his recounting of previous therapy sessions.

Offering an interpretation of the Revolutionary period that places women at the center, Joan R. Gundersen provides a synthesis of the scholarship on women's experiences during the era as well as a nuanced understanding that moves beyond a view of the war as either a "golden age" or a disaster for women. Gundersen argues that women's lives varied greatly depending on race and class, but all women had to work within shifting parameters that enabled opportunities for some while constraining opportunities for others.