Allie Stuart “Al” Povall, the author of five nonfiction books, has written, and had published, his first novel, “The Things He Lost There: A Story of the Vietnam War.”

A book signing is planned for 5 p.m. on Monday at Tallahatchie Gourmet on the Square.

Povall is a Lexington, Mississippi native who has resided in Oxford since 2000. His five previous works include two books on Civil War generals and their lives after the Civil War; two oral histories of Ole Miss between 1945 and 1970, and “The Time of Eddie Noel,” his first book, which has recently been sold to producers who have converted it into a screenplay for a movie.

Povall did a combat tour in Vietnam during the Vietnam War as a naval officer serving as executive officer of a small rocket ship providing gunfire support to troops ashore and to swift boats engaged in riverine operations.

His novel draws on his experiences there and is the story of Jack Houston, who serves on the USS Black River as executive officer of that rocket ship. The story takes the reader through a number of harrowing firefights with North Vietnamese troops ashore, including at Hue during the Tet Offensive in early 1969. The issue is whether Jack – and his ship – will survive the crucible that was the Vietnam War.

The book is also the story of Jack’s love affair with Melanie Lawton, whom he met in Chapel Hill. That love affair turns tragic as the result of a terrible decision that Jack makes, one of a series of bad decisions that will haunt him for the rest of his life.

The book is the story of Jack’s efforts to resurrect his love affair with Melanie.

Finally, the story embraces a new commanding officer named Cork, who takes command of the “Top Gun” on the Vietnam gunline and promptly runs the Black River into an operational ditch, destroying morale and the ship’s combat expertise along the way.

When asked how closely the book mirrors his own experiences in the Vietnam War, Povall said,

“Well, the book is fiction, and the characters are composites. But all fiction is autobiographical to some extent and derive to a degree from the experiences of the author. This book is no exception.”

“The Things He Lost There: A Story of the Vietnam War” is available both at fine bookstores and from various online retailers.