Out Front the Following Sea
“Rich, lyrical, and atmospheric, with a poet’s hand and a historian’s attention to detail. A thoroughly engaging and compelling tale.”
—Steph Post, author of Holding Smoke
Leah Angstman: Writer of Literary Historical Fiction
A debut novel of 17th-century New England by Leah Angstman
Most Anticipated Read of 2022
—Passages to the Past
Most Anticipated Book of 2022
—Beaches and Books
2022 Book We’re Excited About
—Independent Book Review
2022 Book You’ll Love
—Buzzfeed
Out Front the Following Sea is a historical epic of one woman’s survival in a time when the wilderness is still wild, heresy is publicly punishable, and being independent is worse than scorned — it is a death sentence. At the onset of King William’s War between French and English settlers in 1689 New England, Ruth Miner is accused of witchcraft for the murder of her parents and must flee the brutality of her town. She stows away on the ship of the only other person who knows her innocence: an audacious sailor — Owen — bound to her by years of attraction, friendship, and shared secrets. But when Owen’s French ancestry finds him at odds with a violent English commander, the turmoil becomes life-or-death for the sailor, the headstrong Ruth, and the cast of Quakers, Pequot Indians, soldiers, highwaymen, and townsfolk dragged into the fray. Now Ruth must choose between sending Owen to the gallows or keeping her own neck from the noose.
Steeped in historical events and culminating in a little-known war on pre-American soil, Out Front the Following Sea is a story of early feminism, misogyny, arbitrary rulings, and the treatment of outcasts, with parallels still mirrored and echoed in today’s society.
The book
might appeal
to readers of
Alexander Chee, E. L. Doctorow, Paulette Jiles, Kathleen Kent, Neal Stephenson, Bernard Cornwell, James Clavell, Lalita Tademy, John Smolens, Patrick O’Brian, Arthur Miller, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Genevieve Graham, Sarah Dunant, Geraldine Brooks, Charles Belfoure, Taylor Brown, Aline Ohanesian, Ian McGuire, Kathleen Grissom, Robert Morgan, Elizabeth George Speare, Sarah Vowell, Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, Robert Louis Stevenson, Jack London, Kate Murdoch, Alexander Kent, Melanie Benjamin, Allison Pataki, TaraShea Nesbit, Stephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie, Kevin Baker, Hilary Mantel, Andrew Hilleman, Theodore Wheeler, Sara Donati.
Content
warnings
This is not a lighthearted read. It depicts the brutality of early colonial living and contains: othering and ostracization of outcasts, misogyny, survival, physical and mental violence, torture, religious intolerance and persecution, implied sexual situations, domestic abuse, war, male dominance, ethnic epithets, and graphic descriptions.
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Awards &
recognitions
Click to play book trailer
Advance
praise
“Rich in deeply researched detail, and peopled by complex characters, Out Front the Following Sea is a fascinating story that is bound to entrance readers of historical fiction.”
—Kathleen Grissom, author of The Kitchen House and Glory over Everything
“From the squalor, prejudice, and violence of 17th-century America, Leah Angstman has summoned to life the most extraordinary young woman. Ruth Miner insists on surviving, building a life, and being true to her odd independent self, despite the whole world seeing her as worthless filth. Angstman creates a hypnotically real and brutal world and then manages to infuse it with humor and beauty and a moving tale of love. The reader will follow Ruth Miner anywhere,
—Heather O’Neill, author of The Lonely Hearts Hotel and Lullabies for Little Criminals
and be the richer for it.”
“Leah Angstman has written the historical novel that I didn’t know I needed to read. Out Front the Following Sea is set in an oft-forgotten time in the brutal wilds of pre-America that is so vividly and authentically drawn, with characters that are so alive and relevant, and a narrative so masterfully paced and plotted, that Angstman has performed the miracle of layering the tumultuous past over our troubled present to gift us a sparkling new reality.”
—Kevin Catalano, author of Where the Sun Shines Out
“Lapidary in its research and lively in its voice, Out Front the Following Sea by Leah Angstman is a rollicking story, racing along with wind in its sails. Though her tale unfolds hundreds of years in America’s past, Ruth Miner is the kind of high-spirited heroine whose high adventures haul you in and hold you fast.”
—Kathleen Rooney, author of Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey
“Out Front the Following Sea is a meticulously researched novel that mixes history, love story, and suspense. Watching Angstman’s willful protagonist, Ruth Miner, openly challenge the brutal world of 17th-century New England, with its limiting ideas about gender, race, and science, was a delight.”
—Aline Ohanesian, author of Orhan’s Inheritance
“It’s a rare story that makes you thankful for having read and experienced it. It’s rarer still for a story to evoke so wholly, so powerfully, another place and time as to make you thankful for the gifts that exist around you, which you take for granted. Out Front the Following Sea is a book rich with misery, yet its characters are indefatigable; they yearn, despite their troubles, for victories personal and societal. Leah Angstman’s eye is keen, and her ability to transport you into America’s beginnings is powerful. With the raw ingredients of history, she creates a story both dashing and pensive, robust yet believable. From an unforgiving time, Angstman draws out a tale of all things inhuman, but one that reminds us of that which is best in all of us.”
—Eric Shonkwiler, author of 8th Street Power & Light
“Leah Angstman is a gifted storyteller with a poet’s sense of both beauty and darkness, and her stunning historical novel, Out Front the Following Sea, establishes her as one of the most exciting young novelists in the country. Angstman plunges the reader into a brilliantly realized historical milieu peopled by characters real enough to touch. And in Ruth Miner, we are introduced to one of the most compelling protagonists in contemporary literature, a penetratingly intelligent, headstrong woman who is trying to survive on her wits alone in a Colonial America that you won’t find in the history books. A compulsive, vivid read that will change the way you look at the origins of our country, Leah Angstman’s Out Front the Following Sea announces the arrival of a preternatural talent.”
—Ashley Shelby, author of South Pole Station
“With Out Front the Following Sea, Leah Angstman reveals herself as a brave new voice in historical fiction. With staggering authenticity, Angstman gives us a story of America before it was America—an era rife with witch hunts and colonial intrigue and New World battles all but forgotten in our history books and popular culture. This is historical fiction that speaks to the present, recalling the bold spirits and cultural upheavals of a nation yet to be born.”
—Taylor Brown, author of Gods of Howl Mountain
“Steeped in lush prose, authentic period detail, and edge-of-your-seat action, Out Front the Following Sea is a rollicking good read. Leah Angstman keeps the story moving at a breathtaking pace, and she knows more 17th-century seafaring language and items of everyday use than you can shake a stick at. The result is a compelling work of romance, adventure, and historical illumination that pulls the reader straight in.”
—Rilla Askew, author of The Mercy Seat
“Rich, lyrical, and atmospheric, with a poet’s hand and a historian’s attention to detail. In Out Front the Following Sea, Leah Angstman creates an immersive world for readers to get lost in and a fascinating story to propel them through it. A thoroughly engaging and compelling tale.”
—Steph Post, author of Miraculum
“Out Front the Following Sea is a fascinating book, the kind of historical novel that evokes its time and place so vividly that the effect is just shy of hallucinogenic. I enjoyed it immensely.”
—Scott Phillips, author of Cottonwood
“An absorbing, painstakingly researched read that, like the sea itself, mirrors the beauty, cruelty, enormity, baseness, and wonder of human nature. It is chilling that Angstman’s debut novel set in seventeenth-century New England captures the horrors that continue to plague contemporary America, particularly with regard to imperialism and patriarchy. It is heart-swelling that, in these pages and in life, the best of humankind resists and endures. I’ll remember this book as a historical tale woven with wry humor, striking detail, lush prose, daring characters, and a belief in glorious possibilities.”
—Ethel Rohan, author of In the Event of Contact
for Book Clubs
Leah has material packets, hosting ideas, discussion questions, recipes, and craft designs for all your book club needs. She’ll drop in for Q&As, virtual calls, book signings, discussions, workshops, and more. Plus, find out how you can get a book-club bulk discount.
Book
details
- Genre: Historical fiction ➤ Literary fiction ➤ Adventure fiction ➤ Debut ➤ Novel
- Publisher: Regal House Publishing
- Release date: January 11, 2022
- Formats: Hardcover ➤ Paperback ➤ Ebook ➤ Audiobook
- Paper format: 6” x 9” ➤ 334 pages
- Paperback ISBN: 978-1-64603-194-8
- Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-64603-196-2
- Ebook ISBN: 978-1-64603-195-5
- Distributor: Independent Publishers Group (IPG) in paperback and ebook
- Available everywhere books are sold and through all major online retailers
- Booksellers: Available through Ingram and IPG
- Librarians: Available through OverDrive and Hoopla
- Library of Congress Control Number: 2021936003
- Cover design: C. B. Royal, Regal House
Blog &
research
notes
Media, news,
interviews,
reviews
News
- JAN 5, 2022 ➤ Radio interview spot forthcoming at KGNU.
- NOV 11, 2021 ➤ New book tour date added: Wind City Books in Casper, WY.
- NOV 10, 2021 ➤ New book tour date added: Barnes & Noble in Grand Junction, CO.
- JUN 17, 2021 ➤ Now available to download on Edelweiss+.
- JUN 16, 2021 ➤ Now available for preorder in paperback at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.
- MAY 19, 2021 ➤ Now available for preorder on Nook.
- MAY 16, 2021 ➤ Now available for preorder on Kobo, which includes a listing in the OverDrive catalog, and availability on Kobo-partnered international sites, including Fnac in France, Livraria Cultura in Brazil, and Kobo’s worldwide site.
- MAY 4, 2021 ➤ Cover Reveal Day! And preorders open at the RHP site.
- APR 26, 2021 ➤ Named a Finalist for the Chaucer Book Award.
- MAR 31, 2021 ➤ Final edited work is turned in!
- MAR 13, 2021 ➤ Shortlisted for the Chaucer Book Award.
- DEC 15, 2020 ➤ Longlisted for the Chaucer Book Award (for pre-1750s historical fiction).
- MAY 9, 2020 ➤ Leah is listed in the Regal House Publishing authors list, and you can read her fun biography on the RHP site.
- MAY 8, 2020 ➤ Deal listed in Publishers Marketplace.
- MAY 8, 2020 ➤ It’s official! Leah’s debut novel, Out Front the Following Sea, written over a span of eleven years, was accepted for publication today for the winter/spring 2022 season by Regal House Publishing. The contract is signed, and onward we go.
Reviews
- You can check out reader reviews on Goodreads.
- JAN 5, 2022 ➤ Review at The Literary Assistant.
- NOV 10, 2021 ➤ Review at Quail Bell Magazine.
- JUN 30, 2021 ➤ Bookstagram review by Scott Knoblach on Instagram.
- JUN 20, 2021 ➤ Review at One Book More.
- JUN 15, 2021 ➤ Bookstagram review by Julie at One Book More on Instagram.
- JUN 10, 2021 ➤ Bookstagram review by Sherry Stacey on Instagram.
Interviews
- No interviews yet. Please check back later.
Media
- JAN 4, 2022 ➤ Mentioned on the Fabulous over Fifty blog.
- JUN 25, 2021 ➤ Mid-read bookstagram shoutout by reviewer Scott Knoblach on Instagram.
- JUN 23, 2021 ➤ Bookmail post by reviewer Lori Hettler on Instagram.
- JUN 21, 2021 ➤ Promo video shoutout by reviewer Lori Hettler on Instagram.
- JUN 9, 2021 ➤ Mid-read bookstagram shoutout by reviewer Sherry Stacey on Instagram.
- MAY 18, 2021 ➤ Bookmail post by reviewer Julie at One Book More on Instagram.
- MAY 4, 2021 ➤ Cover Reveal Day! The cover reveal for Out Front the Following Sea was hosted at the following blogs: Passages to the Past, 7 Stillwell, Novels Alive, Bookish Ends, JenJen Reviews, Gnome Appreciation Society, Anne Greenawalt, Donna’s Book Blog, CelticLady’s Reviews, The Caffeinated Bibliophile, PJ McIlvaine, How I Feel about Books, Jeff Vande Zande, A Darn Good Read, Leah Angstman, Camp Elasticity, Reading Is My Remedy, Pursuing Stacie, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Coffee and Ink, Bookworlder, Chicks, Rogues, and Scandals, Jessica Belmont, Kelly Ann Jacobson, J. C. Reilly, A Soccer Mom’s Book Blog, and This Literary Life. Hosted at the following literary magazines: The Coil, Big Indie Books, and WBXylo. Hosted on Instagram by the following readers and bookstagrammers: Nikki Kallio, Taylor Swift as Books, Beaches and Books, Melanie Hobbs, Hosho McCreesh, Whisk(e)y Tit Books, Christola Phoenix, Camp Elasticity, Ethel Rohan, David Scott Hay, Ben Tanzer, Sarah Marsh, Pursuing Stacie, Kathleen Shoop, A Soccer Mom’s Book Blog, Stephanie Vanderslice, How I Feel about Books, David Leo Rice, Andrea Auten, Leah Angstman, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours (+repost) (+repost) (+repost), Regal House Publishing, Alternating Current Press, Diana Renn, Little but Fierce Book Diary, The Enchanted Shelf, Bookworlder, Maggie Smith, and Reading Is My Remedy. Hosted on Facebook by the following readers: Laraine Herring, Lori Hettler, Aaron Trudgeon, A. Jay Adler, Michael Schmeltzer, Jayne Martin, Christina Consolino, and PJ McIlvaine.
- MAR 7, 2021 ➤ Ladies Night at Smol Fair virtual reading posted on Instagram and YouTube (Leah begins reading an excerpt of Out Front the Following Sea at 20:15).
Books in
the wild
Media
praise
“Packed with historical details of daily life, which subtly increase the authentic feel of the story. … Emotionally engaging characters are swept up in quick-paced dramas, keeping the surprises coming. … Fans of Sara Donati and Lalita Tademy may enjoy this.”
—Booklist
“… [A]bsolutely fascinating. … Out Front the Following Sea is like a lighthouse on the coastline: meticulously built and designed, but also illuminates so much to carefully draw the reader in. Angstman’s research and prose makes Ruth’s story one that stands out for its vividness and relatability, and the plot is exciting enough that the reader will surely want to see the next course set. By drawing from the history of New England-set historical fiction, Out Front the Following Sea elevates and reignites the passion for these kinds of stories, and will hopefully inspire others to set sail into these uncharted waters.”
—Quail Bell Magazine
“This book was excellent! I loved everything about it. … Strong women, sailors, ships, Indians, Puritanical thinking. … The pacing is great, and if you feel nothing for Ruth and Owen, you have no heart! I look forward to reading more great things from Leah in the future!!”
—Scott Knoblach, bookstagram reviewer on Instagram
“This book moved me in ways that I didn’t expect. Unbelievably compelling … rich imagery and history. The deeply researched and historically authentic world is vivid and immersive, and it captivated me from the first pages. … An amazing story of love, perseverance, and survival, Out Front the Following Sea is both dark and hopeful. A wonderful mix of action, suspense, history, and romance, this is a story that will stay with you a long time after finishing it.
—One Book More
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟”
“What a wild ride!! Swashbuckling action, … wonderful characters, and nail-biting plot made this a 5-star read. One of the best historical fictions I’ve read in a very long time. I highly recommend it.
—Sherry Stacey, bookstagram reviewer on Instagram (and here)
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟”
“Soulful and hauntingly beautiful. This isn’t a story, it’s a journey. If you enjoy a story that doesn’t follow a cookie-cutter path to perfection, you NEED to read this book. … I found myself falling head first into the adventure that was unfolding on each page. I’m looking forward to reading more books from Leah Angstman.”
—The Literary Assistant
Request
review, exam,
or desk copies
Review copies are available in print, PDF, Kindle mobi, and ePub for those with promotional outlets who wish to obtain a copy for review, interview, and feature purposes. Print copies are limited and shipping is always expensive, so please request digital if that will work for you.
Exam copies (or examination copies) are available for teachers or instructors interested in teaching the book in a course. Print exam copies are limited and shipping is always expensive, so please request digital if that will work for you. Digital exam copies are also available for book club hosts who are interested in featuring the book as a book-club selection.
Desk copies are available only to teachers or instructors who are teaching the book in a course and did not receive a prior physical exam copy.
Click to request a review copy
Click to request an exam copy
Click to request a desk copy
If you are a general reader, the ebook is available on NetGalley now through January 31, 2022. For hi-res author photos, media kits, teaching kits, press releases, &c., visit the media kits page. To contact publicists, agents, or publishers with inquiries, visit the contact page.
Pay it
forward
We can’t just write about worlds from the past; we have to help preserve them. A percentage of royalties from the sale of this book will go to the Stonington Historical Society, the Yale Indian Papers Project/Native Northeast Research Collaborative/New England Indian Papers Series, the Mohegan Language Project, and the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, all of whose resources were invaluable to the creation of this story. But you can also help, while you’re here.