Will I love The Jackal's Mistress?

It takes a lot for me to read and love a novel about the US Civil War. The Jackal's Mistress exceeded my expectations in every way. It's not a thriller or a page-turner, really, and yet I couldn't put it down; I cared that much about the characters and what might happen to them. I love stories where "good" people are placed in excruciatingly impossible situations and forced to question their own humanity and morality, and this is one of those.

This book held me in its thrall.

It’s a Civil War novel, brilliantly told, featuring a wounded Union officer and a resilient Southern wife of a Confederate soldier, converged in a moving story of redemption.

I’ve known Bohjalian for many years, as a Vermont neighbor. I’ve read a large number of his books. I pretty much read every book he writes, but this one, because the Union soldier is a Vermonter, I had special interest. I like anything to do with Vermont.

Bohjalian is a master of plot and characterization, and I deeply appreciate his style – he’s gotten better… show more.