Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was enormously
famous in his day. Adults and children celebrated
his poems, both in America and abroad.
He was the first American poet admitted into the
Poets’ Corner of Westminster Abbey in England
and was renowned for such works as Hiawatha,

Paul Revere’s Ride,
Evangeline,
Tales of a Wayside
Inn and others. However, his amazing life was
wrought with trials and heartaches during an era
when America was laboring to grow up without destroying
itself in the process.
What Longfellow Heard is a powerful telling,

in many of the words and musings of the poet
himself, of his tragic quest for love and family, his
longing for art and fame, and his heartbreaking
loss. Discover how his art and faith wrestled within
him while he desperately tried to make peace with
the tumult of his times. Experience the tragedy of
his first marriage, his long road to recovery, and his
passion for the woman he pursued for seven years
while the nation fractured and his poetry soared.
What Longfellow Heard is a novel with profound
relevance to our modern-day polarization,

increasingly clouded national identities, and the
universal aching for peace, joy, and purpose in the
midst of conflict and confusion.