The Second Mrs. Hockaday

October 3, 2016
Based on true events, Rivers’s epistolary historical novel is a stirring Civil War–era version of The Scarlet Letter. Placidia Fincher is 17 when she marries Confederate Major Gryffth Hockaday in April 1863, after knowing him for just a handful of hours. Two days after their wedding, Gryffth is called to fight again, and he doesn’t return from the war to his South Carolina farm for nearly two years. When he does, he discovers that during his absence, his wife had carried another man’s child, who was born and died of mysterious causes right before Gryffth’s return. To protect the innocent parties close to her, Placidia refuses to give up any information about the incident, even after a heartbroken Gryffth orders a court hearing for infanticide. She bears all of the weight of this secret, until her diary falls into the wrong hands. Told through gripping, suspenseful letters, court documents, and diary entries, Rivers’s story spans three decades to show the rippling effects of buried secrets, when the Hockadays and future generations must learn to overcome the damage this secret and the war have done to all the families involved. Agent: Susan Ginsburg, Writers House.

James Patrick Cronin and Julie McKay give sensitive, understated performances in Rivers's compelling historical novel, based on true events. The Civil War story of Confederate Major Gryffth Hockaday and his 17-year-old wife, Placidia, unfolds mostly through letters and diary entries. Cronin and McKay make each exchange leap to life. After two days of marriage, Hockaday is called to duty, leaving his young wife to run his estate and care for his child from a previous marriage. In the second year of his absence, Placidia has a child, but the child dies. When Hockaday returns, he accuses his wife of adultery and murder. Cronin and McKay deliver Rivers's subtle revelations of period biases, rampant prejudice, and the strength of a woman who endures almost unimaginable hardships. S.J.H. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine