Join us at The Writer’s Center to celebrate the release of David O. Stewart’s new novel, The Burning Land: Book 2 of the Overstreet Saga. David is in conversation with Sally Mott Freeman, author and TWC Board Chair Emerita. Book signing and reception to follow.
Free and open to the public, limited space, registration required.
Book 2 of the Overstreet Saga
The Burning Land follows the turbulent lives of Henry Overstreet and Katie Nash of coastal Maine through family tragedies and America’s bloodiest war—one fought to free a people and redeem the nation’s soul. Often separated, the lovers’ quiet letters capture each other’s heart as Katie struggles to launch a teaching career and Henry serves in Maine’s legendary Twentieth Regiment. Rising to sergeant through furious battles at Fredericksburg and Gettysburg, Henry hurries home to marry on the Fourth of July, 1864, but their trials only multiply.
After Katie nurses Henry through a grisly battlefield wound, he rebels against settling back in their small town. Dreaming of new horizons, Henry uproots their young family for booming Chicago, but little goes right in the overnight metropolis, testing their love as never before.
“An intimate, sweeping portrait of a country and couple divided, David O. Stewart’s The Burning Land does what all good historical fiction should do: gives us characters to root for and brings the past so vividly to life it feels like the present. I can’t wait to see how the rest of the trilogy unfolds.” –Louis Bayard, author of Courting Mr. Lincoln and The Pale Blue Eye
About the Authors
After many years as a trial and appellate lawyer, David O. Stewart became a bestselling writer of history and historical fiction. His first novel, The Lincoln Deception, about the John Wilkes Booth conspiracy, was called the best historical novel of 2013 by Bloomberg View. Sequels include The Paris Deception, set at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, and The Babe Ruth Deception, which follows Babe’s first two years with the Yankees. Stewart’s award-winning histories explore the writing of the Constitution, the gifts of James Madison, the western expedition and treason trial Aaron Burr, and the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson. In February 2021, Dutton published Stewart’s George Washington: The Political Rise of America’s Founding Father.
Sally Mott Freeman, author of the bestselling book The Jersey Brothers, A Missing Naval Officer in the Pacific and His Family’s Quest to Bring him Home (Simon & Schuster), is an accomplished speechwriter, public relations executive and nonprofit leader of more than 30 years. The Jersey Brothers was a critically acclaimed Smithsonian Magazine Top Ten History Book of the Year and an Amazon Best Book of the Year in both the History and Memoir categories. It was also named a Best Book of the Year by Military Times, Navy Times, and Marine Corps Times.
Sally continues to appear as a guest speaker and interviewer at literary and military venues around the country; she has appeared on NPR, CBS Face the Nation and at a number of local radio and television outlets while on tour. The Jersey Brothers has received strong reviews by newspapers and magazines around the US.
Previously, Sally penned speeches for the Chairman of the FCC. She became the FCC spokesperson and News Media Division Chief following the court-ordered breakup of AT&T. After her government service, Sally became a VP for Telecommunications at FleishmanHillard, a global public relations firm, and a PR and Communications VP for two technology trade associations. For several years, she chaired the Board of The Writer’s Center, the premier independent literary center in the Mid-Atlantic; she is now Chair Emerita and board Treasurer.
Sally has served on numerous other boards during her career, including the Washington Shakespeare Company and the American Diabetes Association. She currently serves on the Board of the Pentagon Memorial Fund and serves as an officer of the Sweet Briar College Board of Directors.
Freeman graduated from Charlottesville’s St. Anne’s-Belfield School, which honored her with its 2017 Distinguished Alumna Award, and from Sweet Briar College (English literature), which honored her with its 2016 Distinguished Alumna Award.
