Alice Hoffman has inked a deal to publish her next novel with Simon & Schuster’s Scribner imprint. The Dovekeepers will be released on October 4th.  THE DOVEKEEPERS on October 4, 2011.

Publisher Susan Moldow and editor-in-chief Nan Graham acquired the book. The deal was negotiated by Elaine Markson of the Markson Thoma Literary Agency.  Graham will edit.  Last month, Hoffman (pictured, via) published The Red Garden with Random House’s Crown Books imprint.

Here’s more about the book, from the release: “Set in ancient Israel, THE DOVEKEEPERS richly imagines the Romans’ siege of Masada, one of the most significant events in Jewish history. Five years in the writing, THE DOVEKEEPERS has already been hailed by Toni Morrison as ‘a major contribution to twenty-first century literature.’”