Order of Elswyth Thane Books
Helen Elswyth Thane Ricker Beebe was an American author and screenwriter. She mostly wrote romance novels and was perhaps best known for her Women of Williamsburg series of books. These historical fictions books cover multiple generations of two families living from the American Revolutionary War up until World War II.
Helen Ricker was born in 1900 in Burlington, Iowa as the daughter of a local teacher and high school principal. When the family moved to New York in 1918, Helen Ricker would become Elswyth Thane. She worked as a journalist, a Hollywood screenwriter, and a newspaper writer before publishing her first book in 1926. She published books throughout her life, but her last work, Fighting Quaker: Nathaniel Greene, was published in 1972
Publication Order of Women of Williamsburg Books
| Dawn's Early Light | (1934) |    |
| Yankee Stranger | (1944) | |
| Ever After | (1945) | |
| The Light Heart | (1947) | |
| Kissing Kin | (1948) | |
| This Was Tomorrow | (1951) | |
| Homing | (1957) | |
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
| Riders of the Wind | (1926) | |
| The Strength of the Hills | (1926) | |
| Echo Answers | (1927) | |
| His Elizabeth | (1928) | |
| Cloth of Gold | (1929) | |
| Bound to Happen | (1930) | |
| The Tudor Wench | (1932) | |
| England Was an Island Once | (1940) | |
| From This Day Forward | (1941) | |
| The Bird Who Made Good | (1947) | |
| Melody | (1950) | |
| Reluctant Farmer | (1950) | |
| The Lost General | (1953) | |
| Letter to a Stranger | (1954) | |
| Washington's Lady | (1954) | |
| The Family Quarrel | (1959) | |
| Tryst | (1962) | |
| Potomac Squire | (1963) | |
| Queen's Folly | (1965) | |
| Mount Vernon is Ours | (1966) | |
| Mount Vernon Family | (1968) | |
| Remember Today | (1969) | |
Publication Order of Plays
| The Tudor Wench - A Play in Three Acts - Dramatized From an Episode in the Book of the Same Name | (2011) | |
Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books
| Young Mr. Disraeli | (1936) | |
| Mount Vernon, the Legacy | (1967) | |
| The Virginia Colony | (1969) | |
| Dolley Madison, Her Life and Times | (1970) | |
| The Fighting Quaker | (1972) | |
If You Like Elswyth Thane Books, You’ll Love…
The first book in the Women of Williamsburg series is Dawn’s Early Light. This is the early part of the series and covers a young man who comes to America with his father from London. His father is going to be teacher, but when he dies on the way over; his son is left to question his purpose. There are multiple loyalties in this time of the Revolutionary War as some are still loyal to the crown while the Declaration of Independence has already been signed. A great start to the series and a book that is equal parts history and romance.
Yankee Stranger is one of Elswyth’s most famous works. This tells the story of Cabot Murray, a Northerner, and Eden Day, a Southerner. Their love is wild and strong, taking hold from first sight. When the Civil War breaks out, they find themselves on opposite sides and the bitterness of war threatened to overpower the love the two had for each other. Can war topple what seems an unstoppable love? Or does love truly conquer all?