Ann Rinaldi (1934- ) is best known for her historical fiction. She had a grim childhood:
her mother died when she was small, and she was sent to live with an aunt and uncle.
Here she was happy, until her father remarried, and took her to live with him and
her stepmother. Although a newspaper manager himself, her father was virulently
opposed to the idea of her writing, and he refused to allow her to go to college.
She became a secretary, and after she married and had two children, started to write
a weekly column in the Somerset Messenger Gazette. She carried on writing for newspapers,
until in 1979 she published her first novel, Term Paper.
She has written several young adult works, amongst which is this fictionalisation
of the story of Tempe Wick. Tempe Wick (1759-1822) lived near Morristown, and the
family house was commandeered as the Headquarters of General Arthur St Clair. Conditions
were harsh and brutal for the thousands of soldiers camped round about, and according
to local legend, when Tempe was out riding, some mutineers attempted to capture her
horse. She rode away, and hid the horse in the house.
Finding the book: still in print and readily available in both the USA and UK.
Sources and Links:
Ann Rinaldi’s website
More on Tempe Wick
A Ride into Morning: the Story of Tempe Wick
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, San Diego, 1991, 289 pp.
Reprinted 1995
An historical novel: Tempe Wick hid her horse in her house to protect him from Revolutionary
soldiers. The story
is narrated by Tempe’s 14 year old cousin, Mary.
