Peter Kichline had to fight overwhelming odds to lead soldiers against the British.

The Easton resident also had to face slander, illness and political opposition during the time of our nation’s birth.

Rebecca Price Janney tells the exciting story of these times during the Revolutionary War in her series of Easton historical novels. Kichline is one of Janney’s ancestors, and all the book’s major events actually happened in United States’ history.

Speaking by phone from the Williams Township home where she lives with her husband and son, Janney says, “I use a certain amount of artistic license, but these are actual people from the 18th century that I present as accurately as possible.”

Her latest, the fourth in the series, “Easton at the Pass” (2020, self-published, 350 pp, $14.99), has the wounded Kichline returning home from battle.

In the previous book, “Easton at the Crossroads,” Kichline led his men in the crucial Battle of Brooklyn, which resulted in his imprisonment by the British.

Janney also wrote “Easton in the Valley” and “Easton at the Forks.”

Janney says Kichline’s story still speaks to us today:

“It is a David and Goliath story, about ragtag solders who defeated the world’s most powerful military, overcoming great odds.

“People say, ‘Wouldn’t it be amazing to live back then when people did not know about germs or have hot running water?’”

The books have two intertwining narratives. Along with Kichline’s adventures, Janney presents the life of Erin Miles, who lives in the present day.

Miles is researching the life of her ancestors while facing challenges with her teaching career and worries about her preteen son. “Erin’s quest for ancestors was borrowed from my own personal story,” Janney says.

Janney created the parallel stories feeling we can learn a great deal from the past. “It is interesting to show how people more than 200 years apart could be connected,” she says.

“People had the same sorts of challenges. We are connected by DNA. We can learn about ourselves from knowing who our ancestors were.”

An appealing part of the books for Lehigh Valley and Easton residents are the familiar names and areas.

Although Easton was a village during Revolutionary War times. the modern downtown area is still laid out much the same as it was back then, and locations, including Northampton Street and the Bachmann Publick House, still exist.

Janney says of herself, “I have a number of patriot ancestors. After I discovered that, my strong interest in the [American] Revolution and my own patriotism made sense to me. It is a part of who I am.

“A lot of people have direct connections to those times,” she says.

Janney is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Her husband is a Son of the American Revolution. Her son is a member of the Children of the American Revolution.

She has pursued writing from an early age. She covered Philadelphia Phillies Major League Baseball games for the Phillipsburg Free Press when she was 15-years-old.

“When I came in and asked to write for the paper, the editor thought I was joking. He shook his head and said, ‘You can’t be serious.’ But I showed him celebrity interviews I did for a teen supplement [The Teen Times] of The Morning Call and for my school newspaper.

“He called up someone he knew at Veterans Stadium to get a press pass. I raised more than a few eyebrows, but the people and players there were wonderful.”

Seventeen published her first magazine article and in conjunction with the Columbia Scholastic Press Association named her a runner-up in their teen-of-the-year contest.

Janney, who grew up in the Lehigh Valley, graduated from Lafayette College, Princeton Theological Seminary and received a doctorate from Missio Seminary, Philadelphia.

After living in western Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia suburbs, she and her family moved to the Lehigh Valley about two years ago.

She has written 24 books, including many non-fiction books about American history: “Harriet Tubman,” “Great Events in American History” and “Then Comes Marriage: A Cultural History of the American Family.”

“Sweet, Sweet Spirit: One Woman’s Spiritual Journey to the Asbury College Revival” was published last year. It covers a difficult time in a woman’s life set during the tumultuous late 1960s and early 1970s in the United States.

Information: www.rebeccapricejanney.com

“Literary Scene” is a column about authors, books and publishing. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, Lehigh Valley Press, pwillistein@tnonline.com