Esther's Pillow A Novel

A startling debut novel based on a true story: A courageous young woman forces her small Kansas town to acknowledge the dark secrets of one violent night and the ugly prejudice that will tear it apart.

The year is 1911. After attending college in Wichita for two years, Margaret Chambers returns home to teach in the one-room schoolhouse of her youth. Trouble brews quickly. The God-fearing citizens of this small, weather-beaten town feel threatened by the bright-eyed, full-figured Margaret. She's too smart by half and she needs to be put in her place. The men devise a plan to chase Margaret from the county forever. But fueled by whiskey and the shame of their own desires, their plan soon spins out of control. In one night of brutal violence, they ambush Margaret and tar and feather her naked body.

After the men are arrested, a long, painful trial begins—a trial that will thrust this proud, private Kansas town into the national spotlight, splitting families apart and exposing the dark secrets of one hideous night to the unforgiving light of day.

Esther's Pillow is based on a true story. It is the story that author Marlin Fitzwater learned at his father's deathbed. Haunted by his family's own role in the Chambers scandal, Fitzwater reached deep into the past to unearth the shocking secrets of one family, a small Kansas town, and the dark passions that changed them all forever.

Author Biography: Marlin Fitzwater was White House press secretary from 1982 to 1992 to Presidents Reagan and Bush. He now lives outside Washington, D.C., in Deale, Maryland. He hails from Abilene, Kansas.