1862: The Union holds Baltimore, but this city, with its southern attitudes and divided sentiments, is a port of enormous potential value to the Confederate cause.

Defending Baltimore is a man disdainfully called the "Black German." Branden Rolfe, a European revolutionary, fled the oppression of his home in Austria and now serves freedom as the city's Union Provost Marshal. When Rolfe learns of the Sons of Liberty, a secret group of secessionists determined to capture Baltimore, he fears their success could alter the course of the conflict. The war has already separated him from his adopted children and the woman he has learned to love. Now, the threat of the Sons, led by the clever, dedicated Langdon Everett, becomes a thorn in his side as the group gains supporters and amasses a considerable cache of weaponry and explosives. Rolfe feels official pressure and a personal need to stop them at all costs, even to the point of risking the life of his love, who volunteers for dangerous duty undercover. . .

Eden Farnswood comes to the Sons through her new friend, Holly DeMornay, the cousin of their leader. Appalled by the terrible human cost of war, young Mrs. Farswood is a widow who set out to become a nurse but has found a new mission in the Sons of Liberty. Torn by bitter memories and divided loyalties, Eden finds it too painful . . . and too dangerous . . . to share her secrets with anyone, not even Holly, her closest friend.

As Rolfe's web of spies closes in on the Sons of Liberty and Langdon Everett, the fates of Baltimore and of Eden Farnswood hang in the balance. In Baltimore, where North and South meet, love and war conspire so that, win or lose, there will be a terrible cost either in lives or by the betrayal of the human heart.

Award winning author Marie Jakober graduated with honors from Ottawa's Carleton University. Jakober has written nine novels, including her forthcoming release, The Demon Left Behind, the third novel to be published by EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing.

Marie Jakober's profile page

"Marie Jakober knows her history and brings to life a cast of heroic and unforgettable characters."
--James M. McPherson, Pulitzer Prize winning author ofBattle Cry of Freedom, onOnly Call Us Faithful

"Fascinating and well plotted, with lively characters, good momentum, and suspense throughout."
--Kirkus Reviews onOnly Call Us Faithful

Ms. Jakober presents an authentic, vibrant portrait of Richmond, its history and inhabitants through a sometimes amusing, often caustic, proud woman's voice. Civil War fans will find this a rare treat indeed."
--Romantic Times onOnly Call Us Faithful

"Canadian author Marie Jakober has developed a fascinating Civil War spy story from the life of Elizabeth Van Lew, a remarkable Southern spinster whose espionage activities were an ongoing threat to the Confederacy. This is a historical novel that is more truth than fiction.'
--Abilene Reporter-News onOnly Call Us Faithful

"The Black Chalice is the work of a major talent: intelligently conceived, beautifully written, powerfully absorbing, deeply moving. It deserves wide acclaim, and wider readership."
--SF Site onThe Black Chalice