Jarrettsville - by Cornelia Nixon (Paperback)

About the Book

Based on a true story from the author's family history, "Jarrettsville" begins in 1869, amid chaos and confusion in the moments following Martha Jane Cairnes's murder of her fiance in front of 50 witnesses and former Union militia members.

Book Synopsis

A novel of crime and passion in post-Civil War Maryland, based on a true story, from a "wonderfully talented" author (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times).

Winner of the Michael Shaara Prize for Excellence in Civil War Fiction Based on true events from the author's family history, Jarrettsville begins in 1869. Martha Jane Cairnes has just shot and killed her fiancé, Nicholas McComas, in front of his Union cavalry militia as they were celebrating the anniversary of the Confederate surrender at Appomattox.

To find out why she murdered him, the story steps back to 1865, six days after the surrender, when President Lincoln has just been killed by John Wilkes Booth. Booth belongs to the same Rebel militia as Martha's hot-headed brother, who has gone missing along with the assassin. Martha is loyal to her brother, but in love with Nicholas McComas, a local hero of the Union cause--and their affair is fraught with echoes of the bloody conflict just ended.

Set six miles below the Mason-Dixon line, in a time when brothers fought on opposing sides and former slave-owners lived next door to abolitionists and freedmen, this is a compelling story rich with passion and tragedy, history and suspense.

Review Quotes

"[Nixon writes] delicious and remarkable books . . . She's a terrifically gifted storyteller and a wonderful and surprising writer." -- Robert Hass

"Nixon has a thoroughly original voice, a voice that moves fluently from the poetic to the visceral, from the absurd to the mundane . . . [She is] wonderfully talented." -- Michiko Kakutani

About the Author

Cornelia Nixon has written two novels, Now You See It and Angels Go Naked, as well as a book of literary criticism on D.H. Lawrence. She has published stories in numerous publications, and has won two O. Henry Awards, two Pushcart Prizes, a Nelson Algren Prize, and the Carl Sandburg Award for Fiction. She teaches in the MFA program at Mills College and lives in Berkeley, California.