The Jackal’s Mistress is an American Civil War novel inspired by a true event wherein a woman in the Confederate state of Virginia hid a critically wounded Union officer, nursed him back to health, and safely returned him to a Union garrison. Bohjalian uses this story as the basis of his own fictionalized account of a Union captain who, when crippled by a cannon blast, is discovered by a freed slave named Sally. Sally’s employer, Libby, the wife of an imprisoned Confederate captain, decides to conceal the Union captain and try to save his life in an act of humanity and decency that she wants to believe would be reciprocated by a Union counterpart if her husband were in a similar situation. She does this at great risk to herself, her twelve-year-old niece, and her two freedman employees, Sally and Joseph, as the constantly roving Confederate rangers are ruthless towards those who aid the Union and especially brutal to negroes, whether they are slaves or freedmen.
I’ve always admired the authors of historical fiction. The great ones such as Anthony Doerr (All the Light We Cannot See), Amor Towles (A Gentleman in Moscow), Alice Walker (The Color Purple), and Barbara Kingsolver (The Poisonwood Bible), to name a few, can craft period-accurate yet relatable characters and weave them into an authentic and historically significant setting while capturing the reader with thoroughly engrossing story-telling. I’ve especially admired any author willing to dive into the American Civil War as their work is guaranteed to be thoroughly scrutinized by the throngs of aficionados whose obsession with the Civil War borders on cult status. Although I don’t know what his standing will be among those enthusiasts after the book is published, I am happy to report that Bohjalian, in my view, brought the best of his expert storytelling skills and historical research to Jackal’s Mistress and can be compared favorably to the authors mentioned above. The result is what I consider one of his best novels.
Why? I find that Bohjalian’s novels seem most dialed in when he is writing either historical fiction (The Sandcastle Girls) or metaphysical mysteries (The Sleepwalker, The Law of Similars). In Jackal’s Mistress, his historical fiction instincts are fully dialed in with his well-thought-out characters, balanced pacing, insightful dialogue, and detailed description of the setting and action. His multiple perspective, omniscient point of view is executed nimbly, avoiding, for the most part, the trap of jarring head-hopping that can occur when taking this approach. That being said, multiple perspectives are almost demanded by this story as the many themes that are presented—slavery, war, bigotry, racism, sexism—would be flat and meaningless if delivered exclusively from the POV of a white, male Yankee captain. And yet, this approach also presents the risk that all authors are challenged with; authentically portraying the point of view of someone who has grown up with a reality that is beyond what you could ever fully understand. Bohjalian often braves this territory in his books, but rarely a story with as much diversity as Jackal’s Mistress—slave, freed slave, woman, adolescent girl, Confederate, Union college professor. Bohjalian, to his credit, doesn’t attempt to assimilate these characters, instead, he presents them as they would present themselves in dialogue. It is more of a discussion between the different points of view than a deep analysis of each character.
And deep analysis isn’t necessary. Accurate portrayal is often best served through sparse descriptions and dialog, allowing the reader to fill in the character. Along that line, I’ve always found Bohjalian’s adolescent and teenage characters exceedingly well done. One of his best is Emily Shepard in Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands. I’ve used the term already, but I’ll use it again: He is really “dialed-in” to the adolescent/teen brain, and his twelve-year-old character in Jackal’s Mistress, Jubilee, in many ways can be considered a central character of the book. A frequent scene-stealer, she injects the story with a critical dimension that helps define the underlying theme of the book—how the Civil War changed America. After all, kids like Jubilee were the phoenixes to arise from the conflict as the next generation of Americans. It was her attitudes (and those of her generation) towards slaves, freed slaves, northerners, southerners, men, and women, that shaped our world after the war.
In short, Bohjalian brings the best of his storytelling prowess, along with sensitive and perceptive portrayals of his diverse cast of characters, to The Jackal’s Mistress. He guides us through a harrowing but all too plausible side story occurring during one of the most disruptive yet definitive periods in the history of America. This is a compelling read that will find a welcome spot in many “best historical novels” collections.
4.7/5 stars
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