THE JACKAL'S MISTRESS proves again why Chris Bohjalian is one of my favorite authors. Although I usually prefer thrillers, and this is not that, THE JACKAL'S MISTRESS is not only character driven; this fictionalized version of a true story has a wonderful plot as well.

Back in 2003, Bohjalian was assigned by READER'S DIGEST to write a Civil-War-era account of two people, one on the Union side of the war, the other a Confederate, who few people had heard of. This true story led to THE JACKAL'S MISTRESS. It is fiction, but a story like this one really did happen.

A young woman like Libby really did help a Union soldier like Captain Weybridge after her servant, a freed slave who was also based on a real person, found this injured officer who had been left for dead. Libby took him in, hid him, and nursed him back to health. THE JACKAL'S MISTRESS contains other similarities to the true details, but mostly this is Bohjalian's story.

It kept me as riveted as any thriller. The confederates came so close, day after day, to discovering the captain.

As for the title, it isn't what it sounds like. Read this excellent book and discover what "the jackal's mistress" really refers to.