The Other Room

About the Book

Silas Wilkshire and his family carry on their ancestral linen weaving tradition at their bucolic log cabin. The Civil War threatens the family business, and son James enlists in the Union Army. Margaretta's overwhelming fear for her son's safety comes to fruition with word of James's death. At her deathbed, Silas promises Margaretta that he will seek the truth about James.

Silas discovers a journal of unknown authorship with mysterious entries that appear and disappear without explanation. He decides to better his family's economic situation by becoming a photographer. Silas quickly excels and, against his family's wishes, travels to the Gettysburg battlefield, where he creates intriguing images of motion.

Hospitalized by injury, Silas grows appreciative of nurses and acts to promote their well being with his photographs. But with further "proof" of James's death, Silas returns with his camera to the battlefield. James appears to relate the story of his wanderings.

Inspired by Walt Whitman, Silas and his precocious daughter KatieRose create The Other Room, named after a poem by Margaretta's muse, H.W. Longfellow. Nurses come to this unique Washington, DC hospital ward to heal their own War suffering. President Lincoln acknowledges Silas's work with an invitation to the White House.

It is April 14th 1865, and tragedy intercedes in the form of a crazed gunman.

About the Author

Alan Kohn and his wife Denyse live with their dogs and cats in Berwyn (formerly Reeseville) Pennsylvania, in the log cabin occupied by the Neilley (Wilkshire) family from about 1775 until 1918. When not tending to his flock, writing, or indulging his passion in gardening, Alan works as a clinical trial safety monitor.