Hour of the Witch

by Chris Bohjalian

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I love writing and reading historical fiction. And when I write it, I always do my homework. You want to sweat the details and get it right because – to paraphrase John Gardner – you never want to wake the reader from the fictional dream. And right now there are so many great historical novels out there. (I’m not going to pick a favorite because most of my friends are writers and I never want to hurt someone’s feelings. But surf around: there are deeply moving and surprising ones out there.) My next novel, THE LIONESS, is also historical fiction and arrives in May 2022. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58756647-the-lioness Imagine OUT OF AFRICA meets AND THEN THERE WERE NONE. Or THE POISONWOOD BIBLE meets Natalie Wood. It’s 1964, and Hollywood’s biggest star finally gets married, and brings her entire entourage with her on a honeymoon safari into the Serengeti – where they are abducted by Russian mercenaries and it seems that, one by one, they are either going to be eaten or killed. Yes, it’s a thriller, but I hope it also an examination of race and fame, in a world on the cusp of change.