Milton in America

Award-winning biographer of Oscar Wilde, T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Charles Dickens, William Blake, Thomas More, and Shakespeare, Englishman Peter Ackroyd, author of *The Fall of Troy*, is considered a master of historical narratives. In this novel, the writer proposes a new and original ending for one of the greatest poets of the 17th century. John Milton was a controversial man who lived through difficult times. Famous for his protests during the restoration of the English throne to Charles II, the blind 52-year-old poet, secretary to Oliver Cromwell, found himself unemployed and thrown in jail awaiting execution. It was during this turbulent period of his life that Milton wrote his masterpiece *Paradise Lost*. But what if, instead of turning his creative energy to poetry, Milton had taken a different path, say, to America? This is the premise of *MILTON IN AMERICA*. To avoid imprisonment, John Milton flees to the New World. Along the way, he meets a young man he renames Goosequill. Together, they reach New England after a disastrous shipwreck. When they finally reach the settlement of New Tiverton, Milton is welcomed as a hero among the Puritans. It doesn't take long for the poet to organize New Milton and lead his own group. His dream seems to be coming true, but his initially liberal ideas are eventually corrupted, becoming as repressive as those he left behind on the other side of the ocean. John Milton may become a despot as cruel as the king he disowned.