The Hag Rider is a gripping work of historical fiction, told in the vivid voice of a young soldier's Civil War memoir. Fifteen-year-old Jack Benson, swept into the ranks of the Confederate cavalry, recounts his harrowing journey from boyhood to manhood through the trials and tribulations of army life and along shadowy backroads of the American South.
But Jack's tale is no ordinary soldier's story. Haunting his every step is Vanita, an enigmatic old witch bound by a mysterious oath to protect him. Though unseen by most, her spectral influence weaves through Jack's fate, guiding him through skirmishes, capture, and escape with uncanny precision. As bullets fly and loyalties shift, Jack must wrestle not only with the horrors of war but with the unsettling question of who, or what, is really keeping him alive.
Blending the brutal realism of war with a chilling thread of Southern gothic magic, The Hag Rider is a spellbinding coming-of-age saga that rides a razor's edge between history and the supernatural.