The Jackal's Mistress
A Novel
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4.3 • 131 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER • #1 BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER • USA TODAY BESTSELLER • In this Civil War love story, inspired by a real-life friendship across enemy lines, the wife of a missing Confederate soldier discovers a wounded Yankee officer and must decide what she’s willing to risk for the life of a stranger, from the New York Times bestselling author of such acclaimed historical fiction as Hour of the Witch and The Sandcastle Girls.
Virginia, 1864—Libby Steadman’s husband has been away for so long that she can barely conjure his voice in her dreams. While she longs for him in the night, fearing him dead in a Union prison camp, her days are spent running a gristmill with her teenage niece, a hired hand, and his wife, all the grain they can produce requisitioned by the Confederate Army. It’s an uneasy life in the Shenandoah Valley, the territory frequently changing hands, control swinging back and forth like a pendulum between North and South, and Libby awakens every morning expecting to see her land a battlefield.
And then she finds a gravely injured Union officer left for dead in a neighbor’s house, the bones of his hand and leg shattered. Captain Jonathan Weybridge of the Vermont Brigade is her enemy—but he’s also a human being, and Libby must make a terrible decision: Does she leave him to die alone? Or does she risk treason and try to nurse him back to health? And if she succeeds, does she try to secretly bring him across Union lines, where she might negotiate a trade for news of her own husband?
A vivid and sweeping story of two people navigating the boundaries of love and humanity in a landscape of brutal violence, The Jackal’s Mistress is a heart-stopping new novel, based on a largely unknown piece of American history, from one of our greatest storytellers.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
A Southern woman tends to a wounded Northern soldier in this gripping historical drama. Finding Captain Jonathan Weybridge near death tests Virginian Libby Steadman’s resolve and human decency. She’s forced to choose between her Confederate loyalties or saving the life of one of her enemies—a member of the same army that wounded and captured her husband. Saving Jonathan’s life is the right thing to do, but as the war literally comes close to home, this simple act of humanity puts Libby, her unconventional family unit, and her new ward in grave danger. Novelist Chris Bohjalian (The Flight Attendant) loosely based his story on an actual incident, and The Jackal’s Mistress shines a moving, emotional light on one of American history’s darkest times, exploring the horrors of war with compassion.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bohjalian (The Princess of Las Vegas) unspools a tense tale about a Confederate soldier's wife who treats a wounded Union captain in 1864 Virginia. Libby Steadman, 24, operates a mill in the Shenandoah Valley with Joseph, who was formerly enslaved by the family of her husband, Peter, a Confederate soldier held captive in a Union prison. When an armed marauder tries to rape Libby, Joseph kills him with a shovel. A parallel narrative follows Union Cpt. Jonathan Weybridge, a college professor from Vermont, who is charging a hillside near Libby's home with his regiment when he's struck by cannon fire. He's taken to a hospital tent, where his leg is partially amputated and his mangled hand is bandaged. Later, he awakes to find he's been left behind. While Joseph's wife is out foraging, she hears Jonathan's yells and reports him to Libby, who's furious the Union Army has left him to die and secretly takes him in. Though Jonathan is severely weak, Libby tries to heal him, and eventually bribes a doctor to treat him with medicine that she and Joseph plan to get from the Union garrison at Harper's Ferry some 20 miles north. Bohjalian skillfully rachets up the tension as rumors spread of a Union officer on the loose and Libby and the captain grow close. Readers will be glued to the page.
Customer Reviews
The Jackal’s Mistress
Very good read, about a woman and her family living in the Shenendoah Valley during the Civil War. She finds a Union soldier, badly wounded, on her property and with the help of her household nurses him back to life.
Poor writing
No plot. Don't waste your time or money.
Poor plot and character development
Poorly written in my pinion. Shallow character development and simple plot left it feeling lacking. Not worth the money or time