Kindling of a Firebrand: Fran Sweeney and the Fight Against Boston’s Fascism, A Historical Novel by Brenda Murphy

This vital historical novel takes Fran Sweeney from Boston’s early 20th century Irish American neighborhoods to a life of action and influence where she fights powerful forces that threaten the democratic soul of her beloved city.

During the Great Depression and the war that follows, pro-Nazi organizations flood Boston with propaganda and terror tactics. Inspired by her Dad’s example during her childhood on the Charlestown waterfront and by her experience as an office worker in corporate America, Fran becomes a skilled activist and “fearless firebrand” speaking out for social justice and democracy.

The paper she starts, the Boston City Reporter, takes on Fascist, pro-Nazi and racist elements in Boston and beyond. Her words and actions, brave and smart, win national attention for the difference they make in Boston and set an example for action throughout the country.

Kindling of a Firebrand is a biographical novel, the imagined inner narrative of a life, built upon a base of established facts.