From the author of the bestsellers The Emperor of Ocean Park and
New England White, an electrifying and provocative historical novel
set in an alternate history in which Abraham Lincoln survives
assassination at Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865. In this gripping
legal and political thriller, Stephen L. Carter imagines what might have
happened if Lincoln had lived to face the tumultuous post-war politics
of 1865 Washington, D.C., including an impeachment trial for
overstepping his Constitutional authority during the Civil War. At the
novel's center is Abigail Canner, a young black woman recently graduated
from Oberlin, who is hired by the D.C. law firm that is working on
Lincoln's defense. When one of Lincoln's lead lawyers is found brutally
murdered, Abigail is plunged into a web of intrigue, politics, and
conspiracy.