Join the Georgia Center for the Book for an evening celebrating the launch of The Jackal's Mistress, the new novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author Chris Bohjalian. Chris will be in conversation with New York Times bestselling author Karin Slaughter. The Jackal's Mistress is a Civil War-era Romeo & Juliet story based on a real-life relationship between a Vermont Brigade officer and the lonely wife of a Virginian prisoner-of-war. The Book Bird in Avondale Estates will be the bookseller for this event. You may preorder the book from them here.

This event will take place in the Decatur Library Auditorium, on the Ground Floor of the library. Enter directly through the Ground Floor doors (bottom level of the parking garage behind the library). Free registration is requested.

About the Book:

Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, 1864.

Fighting between the Union and Confederate soldiers has grown more intense, and now the war has come to Libby Steadman’s doorstep. She longs for her husband, wounded and captured in a Union prison camp, while she labors alongside her teenage niece and a freed couple to keep their gristmill running. Then she discovers a severely wounded Union captain and takes him into her home, even as Confederate soldiers circle her property for resources to requisition. Determined to get her husband back, Libby smuggles the captain in a harrowing journey from Virginia to Harper’s Ferry to negotiate a trade. But as they get to know each other, their feelings transform, surprising them both. It’s a sweeping tale of love in the direst and most divided of circumstances that culminates in a shocking twist.

Bohjalian’s gorgeous prose is bolstered by his rigorous research into this little-known piece of American history. For THE JACKAL’S MISTRESS, Chris returned to his deep New England roots to meticulously pore over primary sources and other archival material. The result is a rich, moving story about the best of humanity, marking a triumphant return to historical fiction from an author whose previous historical novels (Hour of the Witch, The Sandcastle Girls, Light in the Ruins, etc.) were national bestsellers. Bohjalian’s transportive and emotionally gripping historical tale is reminiscent of Geraldine Brooks and sure to appeal to readers of literary historical fiction à la Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain.

About the Author:

Since his first book was published in 1995, #1 New York Times bestselling author Chris Bohjalian has never written the same story twice. From witch hunts (the Oprah’s Book Club pick, The Midwives) to high-stakes murder mysteries (The Flight Attendant, adapted into an Emmy-winning HBO series starring Kaley Cuoco) and more, Bohjalian has built a lasting literary legacy, with over two million copies of his books in print and translations in nearly forty languages.

About the Moderator:

Karin Slaughter is one of the world's most popular and acclaimed storytellers. She is the author of more than twenty instant New York Times bestselling novels, including the Edgar–nominated Cop Town and standalone novels Pretty Girls, The Good Daughter, and Pieces of Her. She is published in 120 countries with more than 40 million copies sold across the globe. Pieces of Her is a #1 Netflix original series starring Toni Collette, and WILL TRENT, based on her Will Trent series, is on ABC (and streaming on Hulu in the U.S. and Disney+ internationally). False Witness and The Good Daughter are in development for television. Slaughter is the founder of the Save the Libraries project—a nonprofit organization established to support libraries and library programming. A native of Georgia, she lives in Atlanta.