When a solitary art historian stumbles across a cryptic World War I diary among his mother’s antiques, his life quietly implodes. In Jonathan’s Journal, award-winning author Gerald Everett Jones invites readers on a richly emotional and historical journey that spans continents and generations. Through dual narratives—one modern, one set during the forgotten campaigns of the Great War in the Near East and India—Jones offers a haunting meditation on identity, duty, and the echoes of conflict that shape who we become.

At the center of this literary novel is Jonathan Worthington, a middle-aged professor on sabbatical, whose discovery of an anonymous soldier’s meticulously written journal ignites a quest for truth that blurs the line between past and present. The soldier, initially known only by the initials J.F.W., recounts experiences from the trenches of France to the deserts of Mesopotamia and India. As Jonathan deciphers the diary—with help from Elena, a mysterious librarian who abruptly left a position in the diplomatic corps—he suspects more than a historical connection; family secrets may lie hidden in Fred’s sparse but emotionally loaded prose.

Jones’s fifteenth novel is both contemplative and adventurous, seamlessly blending historical research, literary fiction, and intimate personal reflection. Fans of Birdsong, The English Patient, and Possession will find themselves drawn into a world where archival mysteries illuminate inner truths.

Among his captivating titles, Jones has received high praise for Clifford’s Spiral, Preacher Finds a Corpse, and Harry Harambee’s Kenyan Sundowner.