What started several years ago as an effort to gather some family history from his mother in the week before she died, continues to bear fruit for Encinitas Author David A. Jacinto, who this past week published “Where Eagles Fly Free,” the second book in his Courageous Series of historical novels.
The books are inspired by the real life story of Jacinto’s great-great-great grandfather Thomas Wright, who was 7 years old when he began working in England’s coal mines in 1837. The first book in the series, “Out of the Darkness,” published in 2023, followed Thomas’ perilous journey out of the mines and into national activism to reform the deadly English mining industry. it won New York City’s Book Award for best historical fiction of 2024 and first prize in the prestigious Firebird competition.
In the second book “Where Eagles Fly Free,” which was published Tuesday, Thomas and his wife. Annie, along with many extended family leave the British Isles for America and arrive just after the Civil War in 1868. Then it follows their journey across the frontier to the American West, where along they way they encounter Native American uprisings, racism, anti-immigrant hostility, exploitation and losses. The book also covers Thomas’s involvement in the construction of the transcontinental railway.
Jacinto came to writing later in life, following a long career in civil engineering where he served as president of SM Engineering Company and he worked for the state of California in 2001 as chief engineer on solving a major energy crisis. Jacinto’s recently answered questions about the book in a Q&A. These are excerpts from that conversation.
Q: What made you decide to write this story about your own relatives?
A: My mother was an orphan. In the final weeks of her life, she told me much about her birth family in Wyoming and asked to be buried in the family plot. When we buried her, I found that the largest tombstones in the entire cemetery were for our relatives, Thomas and Annie Wright. I spent time researching who they were and discovered the absolutely fascinating story of their lives in both England and America. It is the story of immigrants in America that has been repeated over and over again by so many. It is a part of our national heritage and most every individual American citizen today is related to families not unlike this one.
Q: At the core of the novel are two love stories — the love story of Annie and Thomas and their love for their new country, America. Why is it important to have books and stories like yours?
A: I’m afraid sometimes we forget how lucky we are to be citizens of this great country. The ion shown in their love for each other and of their new country was probably not that uncommon for European immigrants in the 1860s. They held on to each other as they struggled to overcome the tremendous challenges to achieve their dreams.
Q: You say the 1860s was the most transformational decade in the history of the United States. Why is that?
A: Between 1860 and 1865, America was waging its Civil War to free the slaves. There were 1.5 million casualties of war during those five years in a country that was less than 30 million at the time. That’s 5% of the population, but 25% of the young men — husbands, fathers and what seemed much of the future of the country at the time. But with the Civil War, the hopes and dreams of the Declaration of Independence were put on the path to fulfillment and America’s best years were unleashed.
Q: You’re an engineer by profession. One of the key parts of the novel is the construction of the transcontinental railway line, the greatest technological feat of the 19th century. What role did America’s trains have in the economic, cultural, and political unification of the country we live in today?
A: I was especially fascinated by the technological advancements in the building of the transcontinental railroad and telegraph system in the mid-19th century. Abraham Lincoln was prophetic in his description of the future of America. He did everything in his power to tie the North to the South — one of the outcomes of the Civil War — and to tie the East to the West with the transcontinental railroad and telegraph line that brought instant communication from San Francisco to New York and reduced the six-month dangerous travel-time to a comfortable one-week adventure. This great technological advance leapfrogged America a hundred years into the future and fast-tracked the elimination of the cultural divide among the many nationalities, races, and faiths across America.
Q: You did not shy away from including incidents in the book regarding the exploitation and brutality that Native Americans, African-Americans, Asians, and Mormons faced during the 19th century. Why?
A: I did my best to paint an accurate picture of the growing pains of America in order to show that leaving the aristocratic brutality of the Old World to participate in the wondrous benefits of the New World was not without its challenges. I tried my best to show that 19th century America had its flaws and that over the centuries it has been up to us, as its citizens and beneficiaries, to work to resolve our differences and remove those flaws. Of course, this is still an ongoing process even today, but we have come a long way.
David A. Jacinto discusses ‘Where Eagles Fly Free’
When: 5 p.m. Saturday, May 17
Where: Barnes & Noble, 1040 N. El Camino Real Drive, Encinitas.
Info: 760-943-6400, stores.barnesandnoble.com/store/2785
When: 7:30 p.m. June 11
Where: Warwick’s bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla
Info: 858-454-0347, warwicks.com/event/jacinto-2025
