SAM SIMPSON
The Richmond Papers
As Federal troops close in, Confederate President Jefferson Davis orders Colonel Pierre Le Jeune to take secret documents and gold bullion to London for safekeeping. The documents contain a stunning historical truth which threatens the very existence of the United States. Le Jeune, aided by British envoy James Steele, leaves Richmond on a perilous journey south.One hundred and fifty years later, a family history project into James Steele’s Civil War journey, undertaken by his descendant Tom Mackay and his American girlfriend Sally Purcell, spirals out of control with lethal consequences. As Tom and Sally follow clues in the hunt for the Richmond Papers and the bullion, they are threatened by the FBI and treasure hunters. Their search leads them to Florida, Nassau, Liverpool, Scotland, New Zealand and London before culminating in the Oval Office of the White House.
Background
The book is set primarily in the US/Britain and features protagonist Sally Purcell and her British boyfriend Tom Mackay, a wealthy financier. The story is centered on their pan continental hunt for a lost cache of Confederate Gold and a document/letter which could shake up the heart of the American political system. The novel’s central mystery is the identity of the author of the Richmond Papers.
Most of the historical references - the depletion of the Confederate Gold, the CSS Shenandoah’s journey, Jefferson Davis visiting London in 1868 and the crimes committed in Philadelphia during ratification of the Constitution - all took place. I would estimate that historically, the novel is 90% factual.
Other themes explored in the book are constitutional tensions around gun control, the Electoral College and the US Supreme Court. The novel also touches on Anglo-American relations as reflected by the two central characters Sally (American) and Tom (British).
Future Titles Featuring Sally & Tom
...are in development.