67 pages • 2-hour read
Midnight Rider
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Chapters 1-8Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of illness, death, and racism.
Prologue Summary
Suffering from smallpox fever, 14-year-old Hannah Andrews awakens in her bedroom at her family’s house in Salem, Massachusetts, calling out deliriously for her mother. Aunt Phoebe, her mother’s sister, reminds Hannah that her mother has died from smallpox, and as Hannah recovers her wits, she recalls that her father also died two years ago. Phoebe informs Hannah that although she will survive, she will have a permanent facial scar.
When Hannah notices that her beloved horse, Promise (a gift from her late father), is now missing from the pasture, she questions Aunt Phoebe, who callously state that she sold Promise because he was too expensive to keep. Devastated, Hannah pleads for Promise’s return, but Phoebe refuses. Complaining of all her efforts to care for Hannah and her mother, she chides Hannah for ingratitude. Hannah prays for strength and for Promise’s return as she grapples with her grief over her parents’ deaths and the loss of her beloved horse.
Chapter 1 Summary: “Secret Meetings”
It is now July of 1774. After recovering from smallpox, Hannah visits her mother’s grave each day, and on one occasion, she spots a boy riding a horse that looks exactly like Promise. When she calls out, the horse comes to her eagerly; he is indeed her Promise. The boy, Will Samson, is a new resident in Salem and explains that his family bought the horse from Aunt Phoebe for £80; Promise has been renamed “Midnight.” Recognizing Hannah’s deep connection with the horse, Will allows her to ride Promise and expresses astonishment and admiration at her fine horsemanship skills.
As several weeks go by, Will tells Hannah about the political situation in Boston, explaining the growing conflicts between the Loyalists, or Tories (the colonists who remain loyal to the British Crown), and the Patriots, or Whigs (the colonists who wish to break free of British rule). Will has Whig sympathies and wants to help the Patriots’ cause in Boston. He explains that the political tensions between the American colonists and the British authorities involve growing anger over issues of unfair taxation without representation. Hannah notes that Aunt Phoebe is a Loyalist.
When Phoebe discovers Hannah and Will’s secret meetings at the graveyard, she expresses her fury at Hannah’s disobedience.
Chapter 2 Summary: “Packed Up and Sent Away”
A few days after discovering Hannah’s secret meetings with Will, Aunt Phoebe announces that she has arranged for Hannah to be sent to Boston to work for General Thomas Gage’s family for seven years. When Hannah protests, reminding Phoebe of a promise made to her dying sister that Hannah could stay in their family home, Phoebe dismisses her concerns, claiming that she has fulfilled her duty as Hannah’s guardian.
Left with no other choice, Hannah packs her few belongings, but she secretly takes her mother’s wedding ring from Aunt Phoebe’s room. Before she leaves, her aunt admonishes her not to engage in her usual habit of mimicking people’s voices and mannerisms while she is in Boston. Suddenly, a neighbor named Sarah Tarrant (a red-haired, vocal woman with Whig sympathies) arrives to question Phoebe’s motives for sending Hannah to Boston; she also hints that the whole town knows Phoebe’s real reason for sending Hannah away. Mystified, Hannah does not understand the conversation’s subtext.
Just before Hannah leaves Salem, Will meets her with Promise to say goodbye and gives her lilies of the valley as a farewell gift. He resolves to keep the horse’s name as Promise and hints that he might soon come to Boston. Hannah urges Will to come find her and promises her horse that the two of them will be reunited.
Chapter 3 Summary: “An Omen”
After leaving Will, Hannah travels to Boston in a carriage with Lydia Perkins, the stern overseer of the Gage household; Catherine Squires, the kind cook; and Isaac Monroe, the driver. During the journey, Lydia explains Hannah’s indenture contract, which binds her to serve General Gage’s household for seven years. Hannah is shocked to discover that Aunt Phoebe has claimed that Hannah is “destitute” even though she was meant to benefit from money left to her by her deceased parents. She realizes that Phoebe has taken this money, and she is further incensed to realize that her aunt also received £50 for making her an indentured servant in the Gage household. Hannah feels as though she has been “sold” just like Promise. As the carriage leaves Salem, Parson Barnard calls out to Hannah to wish her luck, and Sarah Tarrant gives her a piece of plum cake to eat on the road. Later, when they approach Charlestown, Isaac points out an iron cage containing a human skeleton.
Chapter 4 Summary: “The Golden Horse”
Issac explains that the person in the cage was punished for attempting to emancipate themselves; the remains now serve as a warning to others. Catherine comforts the horrified Hannah, but Lydia cruelly warns her not to run away from her own duties in Boston. As the journey continues, Isaac speaks of the fomenting rebellion in Boston and states that the British soldiers will find it difficult to maintain order.
Arriving in Boston late afternoon, Hannah and her traveling companions cross the Charles River by ferry; Lydia forces Hannah to discard the flowers that Will gave her. The women then head through the Boston streets; Catherine points out a place called the Green Dragon Tavern and hints vaguely at “rumors” that abound about the location.
They finally arrive at the Province House, the grand mansion where General Gage resides. At the stables, Hannah slips away to explore and discovers a beautiful, pale gold horse named Gabriel. As she admires the animal, Caleb Gibbs, the stable boy, angrily confronts her.
Chapter 5 Summary: “Gabriel, Caleb, and Meg”
Caleb explains that Gabriel is a Spanish gift to General Gage. He warns her that no one is allowed in the stables, but Hannah cannot help but feel drawn to the magnificent horse, and she forms an immediate connection with him. Caleb offers to let her visit Gabriel whenever the British soldiers are absent. When the soldiers begin arriving, Hannah hurries back to join Catherine and Lydia.
Upon realizing that Hannah has been in the stables, Lydia drags her out by the ear, but Catherine defends her. They head to the main house and meet the kindly housekeeper, Mrs. Esther Dudley, who welcomes them and shows Hannah and Catherine to their shared attic room. Hannah unpacks her few possessions, and Catherine shows off one of her own prized possessions: a book from her grandmother that explains the symbolic “language” that attaches specific meanings to flowers.
While exploring the mansion, Hannah gets lost and overhears General Gage speaking in his office. She is discovered by Margaret “Meg” Montcrieffe, a 15-year-old ward of the Gages, whose father is a British officer currently stationed in England. Meg shows Hannah the correct servants’ stairway and hints at a possible friendship, though she quickly reminds Hannah of their different social stations.
Chapter 6 Summary: “Servant Girl”
Mrs. Dudley teaches Hannah how to set the table and tasks her with assisting Catherine to prepare tarts for dinner. When the Gages gather in the grand dining room for the meal, Hannah observes them and their guests, including Phillis Wheatley, a woman who was formerly enslaved and who has since become a celebrated poet. While serving, Hannah stumbles, attracting Mrs. Margaret Gage’s attention. Meg requests Hannah as her maid, but General Gage dismisses the idea for now.
During the servants’ dinner, Mrs. Dudley explains Phillis’s journey from being an enslaved person to being an acclaimed poet. The upstairs maid, Sally, expresses surprise that “the Gages have condescended to have” Phillis present at the dinner (64). When the entertainment begins, Hannah observes as Phillis recites her poem, titled “On Being Brought From Africa to America,” in which she praises Christianity and states that people of her descent can “be refin’d and join th’angelic train” (67). Afterward, General Gage toasts the king, and the young Lieutenant Chester Pratt and several other officers make disparaging remarks about the American colonists. As Caleb and Hannah watch the proceedings from a hidden alcove, Caleb whispers his disdain of the British and invites Hannah to North Square. Later, Hannah dreams of riding Promise with Will.
Chapter 7 Summary: “General Gage”
Early the next morning, Hannah fetches water from the courtyard well and hears Gabriel whinny from the stables. When she enters to speak with the horse, she voices criticism of General Gage for keeping Gabriel confined, not realizing that the general himself is present in the stables. When General Gage confronts her, Hannah explains her love for horses and her lost Promise, and when General Gage insists that Gabriel must be kept separated from the other horses, she rashly comments, “Like servants and masters, I suppose” (74), earning his ire. Suddenly, Lydia interrupts and furiously accuses Hannah of disobedience. General Gage intervenes, stating, “This girl is just a child” (76). Chastened, Lydia desists but mutters threats to Hannah. As Lydia pulls her toward the kitchen, Hannah resolves to run away.
Chapter 8 Summary: “Mrs. Gage’s Bidding”
After Lydia scolds her and demotes her to scullery work, Hannah escapes to her room and cries. Suddenly, Catherine arrives to inform her that Mrs. Gage has summoned her, and Hannah fears that she is about to receive further punishment for her behavior in the stables. Instead, Mrs. Gage announces that Hannah will become Meg’s personal chambermaid, as Meg has requested and General Gage has approved. This development elevates Hannah’s position in the household.
In exchange, Mrs. Gage asks Hannah to report privately about Meg’s “state of mind” (82). While in Mrs. Gage’s chamber, Hannah recognizes a mahogany chest-on-chest as her father’s craftsmanship and reveals its secret drawer to Mrs. Gage, who thanks her. Hannah returns to her room relieved and hopeful, believing that her prayers have been answered with this more favorable assignment away from Lydia’s authority.
Chapters 1-8 Analysis
Midnight Rider is set in colonial America between 1774 and 1775 and details the mounting tensions between the American colonies and the British government prior to the Revolutionary War. The narrative unfolds primarily in Salem and Boston, Massachusetts, where British troops maintained an increasingly contested presence. This historical novel portrays a society divided between the Loyalists (Tories), who remain faithful to the Crown, and the Patriots (Whigs), who seek America’s independence from British rule. The novel also depicts the harsh realities of indentured servitude, a practice that was common during colonial times. Crafting a narrative from the third-person perspective, Harlow describes the life of an indentured servant named Hannah Andrews whose fictitious adventures unfold in an extensively researched and fully realized world that is populated with real historical figures and events. In an attempt to educate young readers, Harlow features famous figures such as Paul Revere and General Thomas Gage, and she also includes famous incidents like Leslie’s Retreat throughout the fictional narrative. The novel ultimately presents Hannah’s personal journey against the backdrop of actual pre-revolutionary confrontations, using supplemental historical notes to distinguish fact from fiction.
Within this framework, Harlow uses Hannah’s forced indenture to introduce the concept of Personal Bondage as a Mirror for Political Oppression, and throughout the novel, the personal injustice that Hannah endures serves as a microcosm of colonial America’s relationship with Britain. By including glimpses of Hannah’s outraged thoughts, Harlow draws explicit comparisons between the legal document binding Hannah to seven years of service and the increasing restrictions that the British are imposing on the colonies. Because Aunt Phoebe has fraudulently claimed that Hannah is “destitute,” Hannah realizes that her treacherous aunt has not only stolen her inheritance but has also essentially sold Hannah herself into bondage in order to gain an additional £50. In fact, when Hannah learns of the bargain that was struck without her consent, the narrative defines her situation as a form of enslavement. The contract’s language demands that she “faithfully serve” General Gage and his household, and this wording echoes the Crown’s expectation of colonial submission. Thus, Hannah’s legal powerlessness as a minor reflects the colonies’ lack of voice in Parliament’s decisions.
Despite the novel’s focus on oppression, the issue of enslavement receives a markedly uneven treatment, and it is most often used as a backdrop to Hannah’s situation, as when she sees the skeletal remains of an enslaved person in an iron cage and internalizes the intended warning not to escape from bondage. Although Hannah frequently laments the injustices that led to her indentured status, and although the narrative draws implicit comparisons between her situation and the rampant enslavement of Africans that is occurring all around her, her situation is legally distinct from enslavement. Even with the restrictions that change her, she is afforded far greater privileges and social status than those who have been forcibly removed from their homes in Africa and sent to the American colonies.
Even in her earliest moments in General Gage’s household, Hannah finds ways to express her rebellious thoughts, and she must often suppress her urge to demonstrate her natural talent for mimicry when her social superiors say things that she believes are worthy of mockery. In the novel’s earliest chapters, she mimics Phoebe’s “self-righteous” mannerisms for Will’s amusement, but later, in Boston, she is wise enough not to do the same to General Gage himself. However, the narrative makes it clear that she uses her keen observational intelligence to subtly subvert the authority of the more tyrannical figures in her life. As Hannah works on Finding Personal Growth Amid Political Awakening, her habit of mimicry will serve multiple functions in the narrative, from comic relief and rebellion to a strategic form of disguise. At the moment, however, her taste for mimicry primarily functions as a form of social commentary, allowing her to expose the pretensions and hypocrisies of her social superiors.
As Hannah becomes aware of Boston’s political situation, her position within the Gage household creates the perfect conditions for finding personal growth amid political awakening. Caleb’s invitation to North Square introduces Hannah to the concept of colonial rights. Additionally, when she accidentally overhears one of General Gage’s private conversations, it becomes clear that her domestic duties place her in a unique position to gain privileged information on British military decisions. This scenario therefore foreshadows her later decision to involve herself in espionage on behalf of the Patriots.
As Hannah’s relationships with members of the Gage family grow more complex, the novel sets the stage for her future struggles with Navigating the Challenges of Divided Loyalties. For example, when Mrs. Gage rescues Hannah from scullery work and General Gage puts a stop to Lydia’s verbal abuse, they both show a level of genuine concern for Hannah’s welfare that complicates any moral judgment of their political positions. Because the Gages show Hannah a great deal of kindness, she will eventually have to reconcile these gestures with the fact that the Gages collectively represent the ongoing political oppression of the American colonists. The inherent contradictions in her situation will ultimately make Hannah’s political choices more difficult. This early establishment of conflicted loyalties sets the stage for Hannah’s eventual recognition that personal gratitude cannot justify allegiance to unjust systems.
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