The Jackal’s Mistress
Skirmishes and battles plague Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley during America’s Civil War, with the same territory changing hands numerous times. Libby Steadman’s husband, Peter, is last known to be in a northern POW camp, now presumed dead. Libby, along with Joseph and Sally, their Black servants, and her twelve-year-old niece Jubilee, are left to run the family’s grist mill on the Opequon River, which provides flour for the Confederate Army. When Libby discovers a Union officer near death, his leg and part of a hand missing, and abandoned by his unit to his fate, she is determined to save his life. This is what she would want a Northern woman to do for her beloved Peter. This act of treason creates a new level of danger for everyone in the household. Libby is resourceful in keeping Captain Jonathan Weybridge hidden. Even trickier is getting the medical supplies she needs to care for him without drawing unwanted attention.
Vulnerable to rape and violence by rogue Confederates and the suspicious Mosby’s Rangers patrolling the area, Libby’s life is surrounded by danger, death, and deprivation. This story is propulsive and tense with each plot turn as Libby must do things she never dreamed herself capable of to protect Captain Weybridge, herself, and the others under her care. Jubilee is feisty and sassy, a favorite character adding a child’s perspective. She names the Union officer “Jackal,” and her sarcastic interactions with him gradually turn to reluctant affection. The elderly Joseph and Sally, who stayed to work for wages after Peter freed them, are fiercely loyal and protective of Libby and Jubilee. A lonely Libby spends long evenings in Weybridge’s company, and gradually love grows as they get to know each other, but Libby struggles to accept that Peter may never return. This is a flawless novel, emotional and poignant while showing humanity in all its good and evil during war.
