Witchcraft, war, murder and romance abound in <em>The Orphanmaster</em>, the debut novel by Jean Zimmerman. Set in 1663 New Amsterdam (present-day Manhattan), <em>The Orphanmaster</em> tells the story of orphaned Blandine van Couvering and English spy Edward Drummond as they investigate the mysterious disappearance of orphans in a hardscrabble Dutch colony. As the pair searches for a killer, they meet a cast of colorful characters, fight against accusations of witchcraft and espionage, and face looming war against the British. Using the intriguing and grizzly backdrop of the late 1600s, <em>The Orphanmaster</em> is a mixture of historical fiction, spy thriller and horror story.<br /><br />Zimmerman is also the author of the highly praised nonfiction book <em>Love, Fiercely</em>, which tells of the Gilded Age romance between Edith Minturn and Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes, two contemporaries of the Astors and Vanderbilts. <em>Love, Fiercely </em>is the evocative, captivating<em> </em>tale of two wealthy, passionate and progressive New Yorkers living in the late 1800s. Minturn and Stokes were both children of privilege who married at 28much later than the norm of the timeand had a relationship that was unusually modern for the day.<br /><br />Zimmerman is an honors graduate of Barnard College and earned an MFA in writing from the Columbia University School of the Arts. She is the author of several works of nonfiction that focus on the changing role of women in the United States. Zimmerman will speak at <strong>Boswell Book Co.</strong> on Aug. 15 at 7 p.m.
