No Small Thing: A Novel of the American Revolution

No Small Thing follows a wide variety of characters through the opening of the Revolution. Loyalists, rebels, Englishmen, nobility, working men, and even German mercenaries make their appearances in its pages, each showing a different facet of the war. At times, the connections between them are close to Dickensian, but other times, their only connection is the ties they have to the young nation. All of them, no matter what side they are on, are deeply tied to the land and to the war.

Coyle has a knack for presenting the rich interior lives of his characters, and for showing their thoughts to the reader in a way that never feels as though we are being drowned in monologue or hit over the head with obvious distinctions between right and wrong. At times, the characters’ thoughts overtake the action, leading to pages where little happens beyond reflection, but that is not always a bad thing. It serves as a contrast to the many war books where the characters seem to have no lives beyond the end of their guns, a balancing that brings us to the other end of that spectrum.

My real qualm with the book is that it often feels like yet another hagiography of the American Revolution. While the Hessians and the characters loyal to the English crown are not presented as one-note villains, it is clear where Coyle’s own loyalties lie, and they are with the colonists, soon to become Americans. While the inclusion of well-written female characters makes this book more diverse than the many books that focus solely on the male side of the war, it is nevertheless an overwhelmingly white book. Again, this isn’t a sign of it being a bad book, but at several points I found myself thinking that this was a book I had read before, or at least was closely related to many other books I have read before.

No Small Thing is well-written, and certainly one of the more engaging wartime books I have read lately. Readers looking for action may find it dull, but those wishing for a more intellectual novel should find themselves fulfilled. The novel does not tread much new ground, but it is still a book I gladly lost myself in. I recommend it to those people looking for a slower-paced book about the Revolution that also celebrates America and holds its ideals in high esteem.