Luck of the Draw

Description

It’s 1969.

Stephen's plans to attend Harvard Law School are derailed by the Vietnam War draft lottery. Faced with the prospect of being sent to fight in Southeast Asia, he evades military service by fleeing to California.

Arrested at an anti-war protest, Stephen flees again, this time to a commune in northern California. There, he falls in love with Sharon, the leader of an underground radical group. Under Sharon’s influence, Stephen plants a bomb that accidentally claims a life. Escaping from the FBI, he heads to Canada with his newborn daughter, Rosie, after Sharon decides to stay behind. As Rosie grows up, Stephen conceals the truth about their past. Many years later, Rosie uncovers the truth and sets out to find her mother. With the FBI closing in, Rosie loses her father and is left to navigate an uncertain future.

Luck of the Draw is a thriller laced with radical politics, divided loyalties, and personal tragedies. Ultimately, it is a story of love, loss, and survival.

After a distinguished academic career, Stuart Blackburn began writing novels and won the MM Bennetts prize for historical fiction with Into the Hidden Valley (2016). Luck of the Draw, his sixth novel, draws on his personal experiences during the Vietnam War era. Born and educated in America, he now lives with his wife on the south coast of England.