by Dara Horn
First published 2009
Jacob Rappaport sits in his Union Army tent on Passover 1862 when his commanders deliver an impossible order. He must kill his own uncle, who plans to assassinate President Lincoln. The traditional Passover question takes on new meaning as Jacob faces this moral crisis. He completes the mission, but the act changes him forever. His voice, once his own, now belongs to his handlers. They send him on a second assignment that proves equally complex. This time he will not commit murder. Instead, he must marry a Confederate spy. Jacob enters this union knowing it serves military purposes, not love. The war demands sacrifices from everyone, but Jacob's commanders ask him to sacrifice his identity itself. Each mission strips away another piece of who he was before the conflict began. Horn weaves together themes of loyalty, family, and the cost of survival during America's bloodiest war. Jacob must decide whether he can reclaim his agency or remain forever silent.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, military-fiction, 19th-century, american-history
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, moral-dilemma, sacrifice
Setting: Union Army, United States
Period: 1862, Passover
659 pages · Hardcover · Thorndike Pr
Content warnings: violence