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(Mountain Pine Press, 2024)
The historical fiction novel Congress's Cryptographer: A Novel of James Lovell and the American Revolution, by Jean C. O’Connor (Mountain Pine Press, 2024) is a portrait of James Lovell's five years in Congress during the American Revolution, as Congress struggled to keep the nation together against a formidable adversary.
James Lovell, a "Forgotten Founder" . . .
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was the Secretary of the Committee for Foreign Affairs, corresponding with Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, John Adams, and others in Europe
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met with Lafayette and other French officers
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befriended Abigail Adams in a vital correspondence
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deciphered captured messages for generals, including one from Cornwallis that revealed British weakness and assisted Washington’s vital victory at Yorktown
Images of James Lovell’s cipher included in the novel offer a glimpse into the world of the American Revolution, where a spy, a code, or a secret could change everything.
Congress's Cryptographer follows Jean’s first historical fiction novel, The Remarkable Cause: A Novel of James Lovell and the Crucible of the Revolution (Knox Press, 2021), also based on primary source research. As conflicts built between Britain and her colonies, James Lovell was a teacher at the Boston Latin School. He spent eighteen grueling months in prison in Boston and Halifax for spying before being released and joining Congress.
See jeanoconnor.com for more about
The Remarkable Cause and order information.
(Knox Press, Post Hill Press, 2021)
James Lovell was honored with induction into the 2023 Cryptologic Hall of Honor at the National Security Agency in January, 2024, for his work deciphering British code and for promoting cipher.
From left: General Paul Nakasone, Director of the National Security Agency, Jean C. O'Connor, Barbara C. Talbot, Wendy Noble, Deputy Director, National Security Agency.