Joanne Dobson's latest novel, The Kashmiri Shawl, is her first venture into the genre of historical fiction. The novel tells an evocative tale of Anne Wheeler's epic journey from the sultry climes of 19th c. India to the cosmopolitan chaos of New York City, in search of a lost daughter and a forbidden love. The Kashmiri Shawl has been met with great enthusiasm by readers. Joanne is also a mystery novelist and a scholar of American literature. Her six-book Professor Karen Pelletier mystery series won her an Agatha nomination and a Noted Author of the Year award from the New York State Library Association.Formerly a tenured professor of American Literature at Fordham University, Joanne now teaches in National Endowment for the Humanities and Fulbright Fellowship International summer programs at Amherst College. She also teaches Creative Writing at the Hudson Valley Writers Center in Sleepy Hollow, NY. In 2014, Joanne was honored by the Writer's Center as Noted Woman of Letters.