A novel based on true events — William Johnson was never Lincoln’s shadow. He was his mirror. As Lincoln’s personal barber and valet, Johnson did not influence the President by whispering into his ear, he was the living embodiment of the price paid trying to keep the Union together, a daily reminder that half measures were an insult to humanity. Because calculating the cost of peace is impossible, where humans enter the equation. — Jenn C. After escaping slavery, twenty-five-year-old William Henry Johnson goes to the nation’s capital as Abraham Lincoln’s valet, hoping the new president will help him reunite his family. But when Lincoln chooses an expedient peace over freedom, Johnson's hopes and the war for emancipation may be doomed—unless Johnson can turn him from long-held prejudices and convince him to embrace equality. Changing Lincoln's heart and mind comes at a severe price. Amid much controversy over the legacies of historical figures, comes a novel that explores Lincoln's complex and evolving views on slavery, emancipation, abolition, and racial equality. But more than a Lincoln novel, it is the forgotten story of a young man who likely influenced Lincoln more than any celebrated abolitionist when it came to his turn from segregationist to champion of freedom and equality for all. "Richly chronicled ... intimate ... poignant ... captivating. One novel I will read again and again." -- ROBERT DUGONI , NYT, WSJ International Best-Selling and award-winning author of over 20 novels, including The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell and The Tracy Crosswhite Series "Intriguing historical elements combined with solid fictionalization." -- The Booklife Prize by PUBLISHERS WEEKLY "Different from the usual Lincoln coverage on many levels ... richer and more complex ... vivid ... a rare ability to delve into the heart and mind of the man." -- D. Donovan, Sr. Reviewer, MIDWEST BOOK REVIEWS "History in a text book can be rather flat, but DL Fowler breathes new life into a consequential time period. The Turn will surely ignite a flame ... the dynamic writing style makes for a compelling retelling of a tumultuous era ... gripping and objective ... DL Fowler fills history's gaps with intelligent deduction and a sharp sense of realism." -- INDIES TODAY "... The Turn captures Lincoln's complexity ... well-researched, well-written ... a thoughtful addition to the cannon of historical fiction about Lincoln and his circle." - SUSAN HIGGINBOTHAM (author of The First Lady and the Rebel) for HISTORICAL NOVEL REVIEW , quarterly journal of the international Historical Novel Society DL Fowler graduated from the University of Southern California with a BA in Humanities and earned top honors at the Defense Language Institute, Monterey CA. For over a decade, he has immersed himself in historical sites and museums, scoured obscure source documents, and mined for clues in neglected footnotes to assimilate Abraham Lincoln's inner world and discover people from the margins who lifted him in times of crisis. Two of Fowler's novels are curated in the Lincoln Presidential Library. His Lincoln Lecture Series earned him the nickname -- The Lincoln Guy.