New Novels: A Reading: William Heffernan on When Johnny Came Marching Home, Leonard Pitts, Jr. on Freeman and William Martin, The Lincoln Letter
Saturday, Nov. 17, 2:30 p.m., Room 8501 (Building 8, 5th Floor)
Author(s) and Guest(s)
William Heffernan
William Heffernan’s historical novel, When Johnny Came Marching Home (Akashic, $15.95), tells the story of three boys who grow up in rural Vermont in a seemingly indestructible friendship, then see their lives ruined as they go off to fight in America's "great and noble war." By war's end, one boy is dead, one returns a physically crippled and emotionally compromised man, and the third comes home as an unfeeling psychopath. When one of them is murdered the other investigates the crime. Heffernan, a three-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, is the author of eighteen novels, including such bestsellers as The Corsican, The Dinosaur Club, The Dead Detective, and Tarnished Blue.
Leonard Pitts
Leonard Pitts’s historical novel, Freeman (Agate Bolden, $16.00) takes place in the wake of the Civil War, when Sam—a runaway slave—leaves his home in Philadelphia to return on foot to the war-torn South in search of his wife. “. . . an important addition to the literature of slavery and the Civil War, by a . . . relentlessly truthful writer. . .”—Washington Post. Pitts is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the Miami Herald and the author of three previous books, including his first novel, Before I Forget.
William Martin William Martin
William Martin’s The Lincoln Letter (A Peter Fallon Novel) (Forge, $25.99) is a “what if” historical thriller that pits competing forces in a search for Lincoln’s diary, which recorded his innermost thoughts as he realized he must free the slaves. Some want the diary for its enormous symbolic value to a nation that reveres Lincoln. But others believe it carries a dark truth about Lincoln's famous proclamation—a truth that could turn elections and change the nation. “ . . . a sparkling mystery, intriguing characters, and lively history.”—Doris Kearns Goodwin. Martin, the author of ten novels, is best known for his historical fiction, including Back Bay, Harvard Yard, and City of Dreams.
Schedule
Location
Miami Book Fair International * Miami Dade College
300 NE Second Ave., Miami, FL 33132
Room 8501 (Building 8, 5th Floor)
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