2025 North American Book Award Gold Medalist (Historical Fiction)

A provocative reimagining of American history, the classic story of the last days of Socrates, and what freedom and independence really mean

For twenty-seven years, Palleias has been a good son. But as he prepares to follow in the footsteps of his powerful politician father, he meets a man named Teacher Scotes who turns his world upside down with one question: "Can you judge for yourself?"

Raised in Philip Holland's richly drawn 1830s Philadelphia, Palleias knows only an alternative America in which the Voice of the People, as expressed by a vote in the all-powerful National Assembly, is the singular law of the land.

As he's drawn further into Scotes's orbit, the young man is warned by his father to stay away from the charismatic philosopher. When he ignores the warnings, his father engineers Scotes's arrest on charges of corrupting the young and not believing in the ideals of the nation. The subsequent trial not only puts one man's life in jeopardy but also tests Palleias's resolve to think for himself and challenges the nation's most deeply held principles.

Hemlock is at once a masterful retelling of the tragic fate of one of the most important figures of Western history, a gripping coming-of-age story of both an individual and a country, and a timely meditation on the true value of liberty in a person's or nation's life.