Obstinate Daughters: The Rebels, Writers, and Renegade Women Who Ignited the American Revolution
Denise Kiernan
Jun 2026 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Denise Kiernan
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13 hr 27 min
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A NATIONAL BESTSELLER
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Castle and The Girls of Atomic City comes a sweeping chronicle challenging the traditional mythology of the nation's beginnings and championing the unsung women behind the American Revolution.
History has always celebrated the Founding Fathers—the sly but victorious tactics of Washington, the daring exploits of Lafayette, the grand ideas of Jefferson. Yet we rarely hear of the women who kept the colonies running and liberty alive. Obstinate Daughters finally rewrites the story of America’s birth by revealing the courageous, resourceful women whose actions shaped a nation. From the battlefields to the printing press, from the plantations to the pulpit, these women fought, spied, published, preached, farmed, and organized. From the front lines to the home front, from the colonies to the frontier, these unsung heroines turned the tide.
In Obstinate Daughters, readers will meet women who armed themselves and took matters into their own hands to defend their town. A Cherokee leader who warned patriot settlements of looming attacks, risking the lives of her own people in the process. A British spy at the center of a plot to assassinate George Washington. Enslaved women who risked their lives while fighting a parallel battle for their own freedom, embodying the very ideals the revolution claimed to uphold. The only woman to have her name on the Declaration of Independence. And many more.
As she has done so many times before, Kiernan masterfully weaves these individual stories together into a single, compelling narrative, carving a place in history for these impactful women while also embarking on a road trip to many of the sites associated with her subjects and examining their place in our collective memory. With journalistic rigor and narrative flair, Kiernan reminds us that the past is always open to challenge, and that every untold story can inspire a new generation.
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Castle and The Girls of Atomic City comes a sweeping chronicle challenging the traditional mythology of the nation's beginnings and championing the unsung women behind the American Revolution.
History has always celebrated the Founding Fathers—the sly but victorious tactics of Washington, the daring exploits of Lafayette, the grand ideas of Jefferson. Yet we rarely hear of the women who kept the colonies running and liberty alive. Obstinate Daughters finally rewrites the story of America’s birth by revealing the courageous, resourceful women whose actions shaped a nation. From the battlefields to the printing press, from the plantations to the pulpit, these women fought, spied, published, preached, farmed, and organized. From the front lines to the home front, from the colonies to the frontier, these unsung heroines turned the tide.
In Obstinate Daughters, readers will meet women who armed themselves and took matters into their own hands to defend their town. A Cherokee leader who warned patriot settlements of looming attacks, risking the lives of her own people in the process. A British spy at the center of a plot to assassinate George Washington. Enslaved women who risked their lives while fighting a parallel battle for their own freedom, embodying the very ideals the revolution claimed to uphold. The only woman to have her name on the Declaration of Independence. And many more.
As she has done so many times before, Kiernan masterfully weaves these individual stories together into a single, compelling narrative, carving a place in history for these impactful women while also embarking on a road trip to many of the sites associated with her subjects and examining their place in our collective memory. With journalistic rigor and narrative flair, Kiernan reminds us that the past is always open to challenge, and that every untold story can inspire a new generation.
A NATIONAL BESTSELLER
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Castle and The Girls of Atomic City comes a sweeping chronicle challenging the traditional mythology of the nation's beginnings and championing the unsung women behind the American Revolution.
History has always celebr...
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About the author
Denise Kiernan is an award‑winning author, journalist, and producer with three decades of storytelling experience whose books have been translated into numerous languages. Her previous titles—The Last Castle and The Girls of Atomic City—were instant New York Times bestsellers in both hardcover and paperback. Kiernan has also co-authored several popular history titles including Signing Their Lives Away, Signing Their Rights Away, and Stuff Every American Should Know. She has been published in The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Village Voice, Rolling Stone, Time, Ms. Magazine, and many more publications. Throughout her career, Kiernan’s engaging personality and expertise has made her a featured guest on many radio and television shows, including NPR's Weekend Edition, PBS NewsHour, MSNBC Morning Joe, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Denise Kiernan is an award‑winning author, journalist, and producer with three decades of storytelling experience whose books have been translated into numerous languages. Her previous titles—The Last Castle and The Girls of Atomic City—were instant New York Times bestsellers in both hardcover an...
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