Karen Warfield’s love of history was first manifest in a book she wrote in the third grade about the Boston Tea Party.

As I read the first page of “White Gloves” my interest in good literature was piqued. Although Karen Warfield’s book is fiction, reading her book is like taking a class in U.S. , history that teaches what life was like in the late 1700s through the 19th century.

Her book was inspired by relics Karen stumbled upon while she and her husband were refurbishing an old house in Norwich, a project that won her and David the Historical Preservation Award. The items found were a children’s bracelet made out of seed pods and a pair of children’s white gloves.

She began writing her book in 2002 and she later returned to complete the project in 2018.

By combining her love of history and her gift of pen Karen successfully executes a novel that belongs in every library and in every living room.

Her story is captivating with the innocent avenged and the villain punished. Her tale is written with a loving hand, as seen in her storyline and in her character’s relationships to one another, and even, Edmond, a villain, is a music prodigy.

Warfield takes an interest in Coventry and Hartford, towns her mother’s side of the family is from, and the locale in which her second book is set.

A third book Karen is writing takes place between New London and Gales Ferry in the mid 1600s.

She inherited her love of history from her parents, who enjoyed antiquing and who were founding members of the Ledyard Historical Society. Warfield is originally from Gales Ferry.

Karen and her husband David are both U.S. veterans. Warfield has a B.S. in Workforce Education and worked for the Department of Defense as a program analyst.

Her book is sold at the prestigious Wauregan Art Gallery in Franklin Square, a neighborhood in Norwich in which much of her first book takes place. “White Gloves” can also be found at Olde Tymes Restaurant, Small Potatoes Gift Shop, Norwich Rare Coin and Jewelry, and at the Slater Museum in Norwich. “White Gloves” costs $17.

Lisa Shasha lives in Norwich.