Midnight Rider

Midnight Rider (2005) is a historical fiction novel by Joan Hiatt Harlow set during the tumultuous period of 1774-1775 Massachusetts, just before the American Revolution. The novel follows 14-year-old Hannah Andrews, an orphaned girl who becomes an indentured servant in the Boston household of British General Thomas Gage, where she gradually transforms from an apolitical youth into a committed patriot and messenger. As Hannah navigates her conflicted loyalties between personal gratitude to her loyalist employers and her growing awareness of colonial injustices, she ultimately risks everything to warn Massachusetts communities of impending British military actions.

Harlow specializes in historical fiction for young readers and often features animals and wartime settings. She has authored numerous novels, including Star in the Storm, Thunder From the Sea, and Secret of the Night Ponies. With Midnight Rider, Harlow explores themes of Personal Bondage as a Mirror for Political Oppression, Finding Personal Growth Amid Political Awakening, and Navigating the Challenges of Divided Loyalties. Through Hannah’s experiences as an indentured servant and a secret patriot, Harlow examines how individual struggles for freedom parallel the broader colonial resistance movement against British rule.

This guide refers to the 2008 Kindle edition published by Margaret K. McElderry Books.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of illness, death, and racism.

Language Note: Because the author deliberately reproduces the historical details, cultural mannerisms, and figures of speech that were common during America’s pre-revolutionary era, the novel sometimes features obsolete and offensive terms and expressions, such as the use of the word “Negro” to refer to both freed and enslaved Black individuals in the American colonies. 

Plot Summary

Fourteen-year-old Hannah Andrews lives in Salem, Massachusetts. After her father’s death two years ago, she resided with her mother and her aunt Phoebe. After her mother succumbed to smallpox, Phoebe became her guardian. As the novel begins, Hannah survives her own bout of smallpox but is left with a facial pockmark, and she is devastated by her mother’s death. To make matters worse, she soon learns that Phoebe has sold her beloved horse, Promise, a gift from her late father.

During her recovery, Hannah discovers Promise grazing in a neighboring pasture and learns that Will Samson, a newcomer to Salem, now owns him. Will recognizes Hannah’s deep connection to Promise and allows her to ride, and the two young people quickly develop a friendship over their shared love of horses. Will, whose political sympathies lie with the colonial Patriots, or Whigs, introduces Hannah to the growing political tensions between the Patriots and the Tories, or Loyalists—those who remain loyal to British rule. 

Aunt Phoebe, as a staunch Loyalist herself, soon forbids Hannah from associating with Will or his family. However, Hannah defies her, meeting Will secretly at the graveyard wall to ride Promise. When Phoebe discovers their secret meetings, she locks Hannah into a seven-year period of indentured servitude without her knowledge or consent, receiving £50 for binding Hannah to the Boston household of General Thomas Gage, the British royal governor of Massachusetts. Infuriated, Hannah feels that her aunt has sold her for profit, just as she did to Promise. Before Hannah is forced to depart for Massachusetts, she secretly retrieves her mother’s wedding ring as a keepsake.

Hannah travels to Boston with Lydia Perkins, General Gage’s strict household overseer, and Catherine Squires, the warm-hearted cook. Lydia presents Hannah with her indenture contract, detailing her servitude in exchange for receiving seven years’ worth of provisions and instruction. On the journey, the group encounters the ominous sight of an enslaved person’s skeletal remains, which have been displayed as a warning against escape.

Hannah arrives at the grand Province House, where she shares a third-floor room with Catherine under the supervision of the kind housekeeper, Mrs. Esther Dudley. Hannah’s love of horses draws her to the stables, where she meets Caleb Gibbs, the stable boy, and becomes captivated by Gabriel, General Gage’s prized golden Spanish stallion, who is too wild to be ridden. She later encounters Margaret “Meg” Montcrieffe, a privileged 15-year-old girl living under the Gages’ guardianship. 

Initially assigned to scullery work under Lydia’s supervision, Hannah struggles with the demanding duties and receives frequent reprimands. Her talent for mimicry quickly emerges as she uses this skill for the purposes of amusement and defiance.

Hannah witnesses a formal dinner party where Phillis Wheatley, an acclaimed poet who was formerly enslaved, recites her work for the Gages and their guests. Caleb invites Hannah to a secret shadow play at Paul Revere’s house, where local Patriots known as the Sons of Liberty often gather. In order to attend, Hannah disguises herself as “Hans Gibbs,” Caleb’s fictitious cousin. The shadow play and atmosphere deepen Hannah’s awareness of colonial grievances against British rule.

Will arrives in Boston to work as a courier for the Committees of Correspondence; he also joins the Sons of Liberty and dedicates himself to the cause of gaining freedom from British rule. Later, Caleb reveals a secret tunnel leading from the Province House grounds to Baker’s Alley, which he discovered after seeing a mysterious man emerge from it. Using this passage, Hannah, Caleb, and Will distribute Patriot handbills that threaten Tory (Loyalist) lawyers who have chosen to cooperate with British-appointed judges.

When Meg successfully requests that Hannah be reassigned as her personal chambermaid, Mrs. Margaret Gage privately asks Hannah to observe and report on Meg’s actions, placing Hannah in a difficult position. Hannah and Meg develop a complicated relationship, with Meg treating Hannah alternately as a confidante and a servant. Meg secretly meets Lieutenant Chester Pratt, a British officer, and when she sees Hannah meeting Caleb, she blackmails Hannah, insisting that the two girls each keep each other’s secrets. 

Hannah begins leading a double life, serving as a chambermaid by day while sneaking out as “Hans” by night to ride Promise. On several occasions, she pulls daring pranks against the British soldiers she encounters, gaining notoriety as the “Midnight Rider.” 

Political tensions escalate after British troops seize gunpowder and cannons from the Quarry Hill powder house near Charlestown. While working in the Gage household, Hannah overhears General Gage congratulating Colonel Maddison on this preemptive raid. The incident alarms colonists and fuels rumors of imminent war. Hannah’s suspicions about coded communications grow when Mrs. Gage tasks her with delivering letters to Phillis Wheatley. One letter contains only an embossed lavender iris, and Hannah discovers that the iris itself means that the sender has a message for the recipient. She later observes Phillis passing a similar envelope to Dr. Joseph Warren and realizes that Mrs. Gage may be secretly conveying information to the Patriots.

Hannah recognizes Dr. Benjamin Church, a respected Patriot physician, as the mysterious man using the secret tunnel. Having seen him both at Paul Revere’s house and at a meeting with General Gage, she suspects that he is a traitor to the Patriot cause. However, her warnings to Will and Paul are dismissed because of Dr. Church’s strong reputation for loyalty within Patriot circles.

Hannah overhears General Gage discussing plans to seize munitions from Fort William and Mary in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She relays this intelligence to Paul, who rides to Portsmouth and enables local militia to remove the munitions before British forces arrive. Hannah’s role as an informal messenger proves crucial to Patriot success.

Later, Hannah learns of General Gage’s plan to send Colonel Leslie and the 64th Regiment to Salem on Sunday to seize illegally held cannons. With Caleb ill and Will recovering from foot surgery, Hannah discovers that Dr. Church has already “warned” Paul about the Salem mission but has provided misleading information, stating that the mission will occur on Saturday (a day earlier than the real date that Hannah knows) and suggesting that Paul investigate Castle William. Hannah realizes that Dr. Church has set a trap to capture Paul, who is indeed captured during his investigation. Realizing that she is the only one who can deliver the correct warning to Salem in time, Hannah resolves to ride to the town herself.

Disguised as “Hans,” Hannah secures Promise from Deacon Larkin in Charlestown and embarks on a perilous winter ride through a snowstorm. Near Salem, Promise slips on icy roads and is severely injured. Hannah leads the lame horse the remaining distance into town and arrives at the Salem church during Sunday services. As “Hans,” she delivers her warning to Parson Barnard and the congregation, but when she is met with skepticism, she is forced to reveal her true identity. Barnard vouches for her, and the townspeople mobilize by hiding their munitions and raising the North River drawbridge. Colonel Leslie’s troops arrive to find the bridge up. After a tense standoff and a negotiation led by Barnard, the British are permitted to search the empty forge, but when they find no arms, they retreat in humiliation while the townspeople jeer.

Hannah takes refuge at neighbor Sarah Tarrant’s house to avoid detection by Loyalist Aunt Phoebe, who now suspects her involvement in the Patriots’ cause. Hannah visits Promise at the Samson farm, where he lies gravely injured and unable to stand. Joseph Greenleaf, a Patriot publisher and friend of Catherine Squires, transports Hannah back to Boston under cover of night.

Word of the Salem alarm reaches Boston authorities. Lieutenant Pratt recognizes the description of Promise and Will’s hat, leading to Will’s arrest as the so-called “Midnight Rider” in Hannah’s place. When Hannah learns that Will now faces flogging, she bursts into his interrogation and confesses her role as the Midnight Rider. Initially dismissed and laughed at, she proves her claim by successfully riding Gabriel, General Gage’s notoriously wild stallion. 

Convinced of Hannah’s story but pressured to mete out harsh punishment, General Gage is about to sentence both Will and Hannah when Mrs. Gage intervenes, warning that punishing children will create martyrs and incite further rebellion. General Gage relents and instead banishes Will and Hannah from Boston.

Hannah bids emotional farewells to her friends. Catherine promises to care for Hannah’s kitten, while Caleb and Meg express their friendship and sorrow at her departure despite public pressure to shun her. Will arrives with his employer Mr. Hubbard’s horse and wagon, and they are transported across the Charles River to Charlestown, where Deacon Larkin provides another horse and cart for their journey to Salem.

Hannah and Will return to Salem, where Hannah is reunited with Promise. The horse is still gravely ill, but after Hannah speaks to him and promises never to leave him, Promise miraculously finds the strength to stand. With Aunt Phoebe and her new husband having moved to Canada with other Loyalists, Hannah’s ancestral home is now vacant. She reclaims it and moves in with support from Sarah, the Samson family, and the Salem community.

Months later, after the Battle of Bunker Hill, Hannah receives a letter from Catherine, who announces her engagement to Joseph Greenleaf and plans to join Hannah in Salem with Hannah’s kitten. The letter also brings the tragic news that Caleb and Dr. Joseph Warren died while fighting for the Massachusetts militia at Bunker Hill. Meg has been sent to England, and Mrs. Gage is going there as well. Rumors persist that Mrs. Gage was Dr. Warren’s high-ranking informant.

Hannah mourns Caleb deeply but finds solace in her freedom, her home, and Promise’s gradual healing. Will returns to Salem and confirms Caleb’s heroic death, sharing that Caleb’s final words were about freedom and Hannah. Together, Hannah and Will ride their horses through the fields and to the sea, reflecting on the healing bond that they have found and expressing hope for the future amid the ongoing war.