The Diary of Essie Lassiter

By: Sam Polakoff

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

2025 National Indie Excellence Award - Finalist for Historical Fiction

2025 NYC Big Book Awards - Distinguished Favorite for Historical Fiction

The Diary of Essie Lassiter was an authentic read, with a strong female narrator blazing a fiery path in a harsh new world. Her voice was as captivating as her journey, and the world created around her was vibrant with the sights, sounds and smells of colonial life. – Reedsy Discovery

In the runup to the Revolutionary War, a young English midwife is unsuspectingly thrown into the London Debtor’s Prison. With no prospect of retiring her debt, she becomes indentured to Aquila Wright, a wealthy mill owner in the British colony of Maryland. After saving Aquila's life and earning his admiration and trust, Essie faces her biggest challenge when she is asked to start the colony's first hospital.

The Diary of Essie Lassiter is a startling, first-person account of one woman’s impossible journey to overcome dire circumstances in an 18th century world dominated by pompous men.

Outstanding!

I selected this book solely because I am interested in the Revolutionary War and especially the women related to it. I listened to it as straight through as I could. The writing style was excellent and reminded me somewhat of Ken Follett’s “Pillars of the Earth.” I anxiously await the reading of this author‘s next book.

Virtual voice epic fail.

While the story was a nice diary of the times read, the virtual voice absolutely ruined it.