Marblehead writer Jennifer Rizzo is set to release her debut historical novel, “Uprising,” on Sept. 1, blending her love of medieval history with her experiences raising two neurodivergent children. The story follows a 22-year-old woman whose heightened sensory abilities help her navigate England’s 14th-century Peasants’ Revolt.
Rizzo had written extensively as a freelance journalist, and she eventually decided to tell stories through historical fiction, a genre she has always loved. She began writing the novel in 2023, while also juggling a full-time job in human resources.
The story follows Blanche Fitzjohn, the illegitimate daughter of a noble. An outcast in her coastal village, Blanche is neurodivergent and possesses miraculous sensory abilities. When an arranged marriage brings her to the Tower of London just as a rebellion sweeps across England, she must rely on those abilities to survive. It started as just one book, but Rizzo and her publisher decided to split it into a duology.
Rizzo and her husband came to Marblehead as soloists at Old North Church. They settled here about 14 years ago.
“We just fell in love with the town. It definitely has the European antique feeling, and it has so much history, which I love,” said Rizzo.
Rizzo’s novel was inspired not only by her love of medieval Europe, but also by her experiences as the mother of two neurodivergent children. Her son has autism, while her daughter has ADHD and epilepsy. As she learned more about the middle ages, she wondered how someone with similar traits might experience that period in history centuries before those conditions were understood, or even named.
“I have a child with autism, and two kids who are neurodivergent. And as a medieval history fan, one of the things I had always wondered is what would it be like to be autistic in that time period?” said Rizzo. “It was definitely something people were completely unaware of. There was no word for autism. There was no word for neurodivergent. It was more that certain people were different.”
But rather than portray neurodivergence simply as hardship, Rizzo wanted to imagine how those differences could have been strengths, allowing them to contribute to their communities and alter the course of history.
“The novel really examines the idea that neurodivergent people have been here all along, and have been contributing to society in a meaningful way and changing history, using their differences in a positive way,” explained Rizzo. “Her differences and perceived disabilities do cause a lot of struggle for her, obviously, but they end up, changing her life and changing history too.”
The research and writing process was extensive, and Rizzo dove deep into historic accounts of life in 14th-century England, and how neurodivergence was looked at throughout history. She was also interested in the various ways witchcraft was viewed in the middle ages, and made some interesting discoveries.
“I can’t get enough of researching it. I also did a lot of research into neurodivergence and mental illness in the Middle Ages, how it was treated, and how it was talked about,” she said. “I also researched witchcraft and the witch trials, because the 14th century was actually before the witch trials in England, and women weren’t being openly persecuted at that time.”
Through her research, Rizzo actually started to realize that she was most likely neurodivergent as well.
“It was really a journey of self-discovery,” she said.
Rizzo’s writing has also appeared in Vanity Fair, The Boston Globe, The Guardian and Ultrarunning Magazine.
Coincidentally, a film called “Uprising,” starring Andrew Garfield, also depicting the events of the England peasants’ revolt, will premier just 10 days after Rizzo’s book hits the shelves.
Rizzo says that she is in the final revising stages of the second book, which follows the same character, Blanche Fitzjohn, in the years after the peasant revolt.
