Landsman (landz'men) – n. One who lives and works on land.

Landsman (länts'mən) – n. A fellow Jew who comes from the same district or town, especially in Eastern Europe.

An unforgettable debut novel of the Civil War told from a distinct perspective, Landsman is the page-turning story of Elias Abrams—orphaned bastard of an indentured Jewish immigrant—who flees his sordid New Orleans gangland home to enlist in the Third Louisiana Infantry, leaving behind a murder that threatens to unravel his world.

For Elias, the brutality of life at the front is soon eased in the form of a morale-boosting letter blindly sent by young Nora Bloom, a proud devotee to the Cause, at her rabbi’s behest.  Although theirs quickly develops into a tender epistolary courtship, Elias’ violent past catches up with him before long, and he realizes, in his newfound quest for faith and familial atonement, that he must return to New Orleans to face his demons or risk losing the woman he has grown to love.

Peter Charles Melman has crafted a riveting tale of romance and redemption set in the midst of this nation's most bloody conflict. Vividly detailed in exquisite prose, Landsman is at heart a morally complex look into a war that destroys most everything it touches, and yet, in this telling, ultimately changes one man for the better.