Prompts winter weather advisories as cold air moves in Friday night

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

For more than 20 years, author Chris Bohjalian carried the seed of a Civil War story in his imagination. It was inspired by the true story of a Southern woman who nursed a Union soldier back to health after he was injured on the battlefield. 

But the idea didn’t grow roots until the racial uprisings after the murder of George Floyd, when Confederate statues came tumbling down. 

“Years ago, Tony Horowitz wrote a remarkable book called ‘

,’ wondering why so much of the South was still fighting the Civil War,” Bohjalian tells host Kerri Miller on this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas. “Horowitz journeyed through the (region) to understand why the Lost Cause still existed in the minds of so many Southerners. I thought about that book a lot in 2020, as the statues came down on Monument Avenue in Richmond. That’s when it really clicked in my mind.”

Bohjalian and Miller also talk about the delicate dance of writing historical fiction — when facts must be accurate but the story enticing — and how the current day echoes our nation’s past. 

Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller podcast on 

for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations.

Arts and Culture

The Thread® - Books and Literary News

History

NewsPartners

Shows

Big Books & Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller

Host

Author

Chris Bohjalian’s 25th novel, “The Jackal’s Mistress,” was inspired by the true story of a Southern woman who helped an injured Union soldier during the Civil War.

Chris Bohjalian's 25th novel, "The Jackal's Mistress," was inspired by the true story of a Southern woman who helped an injured Union soldier during the Civil War.

Chris Bohjalian's new novel about the Civil War sees the humanity in our enemies

Go Deeper.

Like this?