The Hawk That Dare Not Hunt by Day
1975
- fiction
- reformation in fiction
- juvenile fiction
- historical fiction
- tyndale, william, in fiction
- reformation
- smuggling in fiction
- europe in fiction
- smuggling
- history
The story
The Hawk That Dare Not Hunt by Day by award-winning author Scott O'Dell is historical fiction set in Europe during the 1500s. In this Christian fiction book Tom Barton and his uncle Jack are smugglers who are used to breaking the law. With quick wits and secret cargo holds, they have managed to make a comfortable living. And then William Tyndale asks them to carry English Bibles along with their usual cargo. As enemy after enemy rises to oppose Tyndale's Bible translation, Tom is confronted with a choice between what he wants and what he knows to be true
What it’s like
Plain, steady prose carries this juvenile historical novel, with short chapters, brisk dialogue and a narrator who keeps his eye on practical detail: sea wind, cargo holds, the tense quiet of a night crossing and the cold stone of a foreign town. Its vibe is earnest and adventurous, the kind of read that suits a long weekend on a ferry or an evening with a teenager who likes sea stories. Pacing is brisk and episodic, with each chase or near-capture ending on a hook, and the emotional register is hopeful rather than bleak. The core arc follows a young smuggler who learns to weigh easy profit against conscience, moving from self-interest toward a costly commitment to something larger than himself. Violence is present but restrained: threats, arrests and the menace of hunted men, with dread more than gore and no sexual content. Religious conviction runs openly through the story, so it suits readers who want faith as part of the narrative. It is written for younger readers and for adults who enjoy clean, accessible historical fiction about courage and conviction.
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