When she rescues a man claiming to be a patriot soldier, sentenced to death by British authorities, Melody Tarleton takes the stranger to her parent's house where a little Christmas magic, some enchanted petals, and ancient potions take them on an unimaginable adventure.

In this book the author, a historian punctures the myth that 1776 was the watershed year of the American Revolution. He suggests that the great events and confrontations of 1775 such as Congress's belligerent economic ultimatums to Britain, New England's 'rage militaire, ' the exodus of British troops and expulsion of royal governors up and down the seaboard, and the new provincial congresses and hundreds of local committees that quickly reconstituted...