Mary Mackey, novelist, screenwriter, poet and Sacramento State English professor gave a glimpse to a handful of people into her latest book “The Widow’s War” and shed light on her extraordinary life Thursday in the library gallery.

Mackey is a distant relative of Mark Twain, the author of great classics such as “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.”

“The book does two things, it takes a very interesting period of American history that most people don’t know about and lets you learn about it completely painlessly,” Mackey said.

The novel is about a love affair with the main character, Carrie, and the first African-Americans to fight in the Civil War.

“I love history and I don’t see a reason why history should be dull and my personal best way to learn it is through a novel,” Mackey said.

Mackey said her favorite authors who inspire her come from a wide spectrum, from Mary Renault, who wrote “The Persian Boy,” to Charles Dickens, who wrote “A Tale of Two Cities.”

“Some people just read in one kind of category, romance or science fiction, and I read a whole range of things,” Mackey said.

“Her book seems interesting and her research is really good as well,” said Zaira Miranda, undeclared major sophomore. “It sounds like a good summer book, I might read it, but not during school.”

Mackey graduated magna cum laude from Harvard and received her doctor of philosophy in comparative literature degree from the University of Michigan.

In the 1970’s, Mackey lived in the rainforests of Costa Rica. Mackey’s books have been translated into 11 foreign languages and have been published throughout the world.

“Mackey created 11 novels, 5 books of poetry and sold over one and a half million copies,” said English professor Stephanie Antalocy.

Mackey has been successful in selling her movie scripts to major Hollywood studies such as Warner Brothers. Independent film companies have also used Mackey’s scripts.

“Mary is a wonderful writer,” said Christine Smith, junior English major. “I will try to read her book when I find some free time.”

Blazej Bruzda can be reached at [email protected].