Yamacraw Bluff, a historical novel charting the trials and tribulations of Savannah’s founders, is gaining attention in Amazon’s top books in cultural history. The novel, written by former Georgia Southern University professor Dr. Luke Pittaway (2008-2013), charts the story of Tom Ellis as he escapes debtors’ prison in London and joins the expedition to create the colony of Georgia.
“When we first emigrated to Statesboro, GA, I became fascinated by Georgia’s early history. As I read more, I felt there were tales within tales that needed to be shared,” said Pittaway. “I also discovered that James Edward Oglethorpe had been the Member of Parliament for Haslemere and Godalming, near Guildford, another place I’d lived when I worked at the University of Surrey. So, suddenly, I had this connection. The first founders made the same journey I’d just made across the Atlantic from one location to the other, and I felt compelled to tell their story. Ironically, Georgia’s charter was also signed on April 21st, my birthday.”
The subsequent book published by Culicidae Press invites readers into the life of a debtor who accidentally meets Oglethorpe in a drunken fight and gets sucked into his fantastical scheme to found Georgia. It follows Tom Ellis as he’s freed from debtors’ prison, joins the first settlers on their Atlantic crossing, and protects the colony from a dramatic scheme to undermine it.
Pittaway explains, “It took a lot of time to research the story,and some genuine historical insights are embedded in it. Above all, though, I wanted to make it accessible and easy to read so that some of the history about Savannah’s founding is more widely available.”
About Yamacraw Bluff
The tale begins in London in the 1730s; Tom Ellis is trapped in debt and heading for the Fleet, a notorious debtors’ prison. By happenstance, Tom is sucked into a fight, defending a drunken aristocrat who happens to be James Oglethorpe, the eventual founder of Savannah, Georgia, and Tom's life is changed forever. Languishing in prison, he is rescued by Oglethorpe and pulled into a fantastical scheme to start a new colony in America. Tom Ellis travels across the Atlantic with the first founders and fights to protect the colony from a dramatic scheme to undermine it
Yamacraw Bluff is a fully panoramic historical novel that captures the sights, scenes, and experiences of the founderswhile telling the untold story of loss, internecine conflict, and revenge.
Available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Yamacraw-Bluff-Luke-Pittaway/dp/1683150988
Available from Culicidae Press: https://culicidaepress.com/pittaway-yamacraw-bluff/
About Luke Pittaway
Dr. Luke Pittaway is a Professor of Entrepreneurship at Ohio University. He has been an academic since 1998 and earned his PhD from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The author worked in universities in the UK and the US, founding entrepreneurship programs. He has published over fifty academic papers and book chapters in his discipline.
Pittaway emigrated to the United States, specifically Georgia, in 2008 to settle in Statesboro, located near Savannah. At this time, he became fascinated with North America's colonial history, especially the states of Georgia and Ohio.
As he learned about this history, he realized that many people were unfamiliar with aspects of American history before the War of Independence.This motivated him to write about the founding histories of colonial North America in an accessible way that would appeal to readers of historical fiction.
