Fates and Traitors: A Novel of John Wilkes Booth

About this book

The New York Times bestselling author of Mrs. Lincolns Dressmaker returns with a riveting work of historical fiction following the notorious John Wilkes Booth and the four women who kept his perilous confidence. John Wilkes Booth the mercurial son of an acclaimed British stage actor and a Covent Garden flower girl committed one of the most notorious acts in American historythe assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. The subject of more than a century of scholarship speculation and even obsession Booth is often portrayed as a shadowy figure a violent loner whose single murderous act made him the most hated man in America. Lost to history until now is the story of the four women whom he loved and who loved him in return: Mary Ann the steadfast matriarch of the Booth family; Asia his loyal sister and confidante; Lucy Lambert Hale the senators daughter who adored Booth yet tragically misunderstood the intensity of his wrath; and Mary Surratt the Confederate widow entrusted with the secrets of his vengeful plot. Fates and Traitors brings to life pivotal actorssome willing others unwittingwho made an indelible mark on the history of our nation. Chiaverini portrays not just a soul in turmoil but a country at the precipice of immense change.