“‘Lieutenant Joe Howard Wilson of Revere was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for leading Negro troops to a decisive victory last April at the Battle of Castel Aghinolfi in Italy’ . . . ‘Lieutenant Wilson demonstrated exceptional bravery in helping to clear Italy from the Fascists and the Nazis when he did not and does not have the right to vote here in Mississippi, his native state. Lieutenant Wilson is the son of Mr. Willie Willie Wilson of Revere.'” — Joe’s father told his son what a Jackson, Mississippi, newspaper said about him when Joe called to say he was almost home from the war. The bus had taken a small detour over to Aliceville, Alabama, but he was only about an hour away from home. As he hung up the phone, Willie Willie told his son to be careful because he was on “an unknown way. You know how those folks in Alabama are.”
Two weeks later Lieutenant Joe Howard Wilson’s battered body was found.
Regina Robichard has the job of her dreams — working for Thurgood Marshall at the New York City NAACP. While working on another project Regina comes across a letter asking Thurgood Marshall to come to Mississippi and investigate the murder of a soldier returning from World War II. She is intrigued by a photograph of Joe Howard and Willie Willie, when she realizes the letter is signed by M. P. Calhoun, the author of The Secret of Magic, Regina’s favorite childhood book. Why is this reclusive, white author — the most famous in the country — asking for Thurgood Marshall’s help?
Regina soon finds herself in Mississippi; nothing is really how it seems.
Deborah Johnson is from Columbus, MS. She received the Mississippi Library Association Award for Fiction for her first novel, The Air Between Us. She will be at Lemuria on Thursday, January 23rd, presenting her new novel, The Secret of Magic. Signing at 5:00 pm, reading to follow at 5:30 pm.
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