The Treason of Mary Louvestre

From the widow and collaborator of Alex Haley, award-winning author of Roots, comes a new American epic from the Civil War. The Treason of Mary Louvestre is based on the true story of a seamstress slave from the Confederate town of Norfolk, Virginia. When her owner gets involved with modifications to the ironclad CSS Virginia, Mary copies the plans and sets out to commit treason against the South. Facing certain death as a spy if caught, she treks two hundred miles during the bitter winter of 1862 to reach the office of Union Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, where she hands over the plans. Mary's act of bravery is ably told by Haley, using a rich narrative and characters drawn from that pinnacle era of American history. First there was Roots, now there is The Treason of Mary Louvestre.

Dr. Myran Lewis Haley - known to many simply as My - grew up under the watchful, wise, and uncompromising guidance of her maternal grandmother in South Charleston, West Virginia. Those early years shaped her discipline, her curiosity, and her lifelong devotion to the importance of telling one's story. Her family later moved to Columbus, Ohio, where her world widened and her voice began to take form.While completing her doctoral studies in Communications and African American Studies at The Ohio State University, My encountered the moment that would redirect her life's trajectory. Alex Haley - already renowned for The Autobiography of Malcolm X - delivered a campus address about a family story he was struggling to finish. His words didn't just inspire her; they galvanized her. She set a new goal: to work with him.Alex recognized her talent, speed, and instinct for narrative. He entrusted her with an extraordinary task - to help him shape the final two-thirds of a manuscript long overdue to his publisher. In a matter of months, working side by side, they completed what would become ROOTS: The Saga of an American Family, a work that transformed global understanding of ancestry, identity, and the African American experience.My and Alex married in 1977, and she continued to collaborate with him on major projects including Roots: The Next Generations and Palmerstown, U.S.A.After Alex's passing, My stepped fully into her own creative voice. She has since written a novel, teleplays, and screenplays, and other projects. Her first solo novel, The Treason of Mary Louvestre, launched her as an author in her own right. My is a passionate student of holistic health, natural healing, and ancestral wisdom ways. She is dedicated to wellness, consciousness, and whole-person living.Today, My lives and works in Las Vegas, where she continues to write, teach, and architect the movement she leads: Road to Roots - a celebration of the 50th anniversary of that iconic book. She is dedicated to it being a living, intergenerational journey that connects history, healing, and legacy. She is also writing her memoir to capture the story of how Roots came to be as well as the stories that fashioned her journey to the present. She is known to drive her partner slightly mad with her meticulous cleaning, but together they share a life filled with purpose, humor, and deep joy.