Widow of Gettysburg - A Review

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The place where, for three days, one of the most know battles of the Civil War was fought. Union widow Liberty Hollowaway is unprepared to have her farm taken over as a Confederate field hospital and that she's expected to nurse the wounded men, some of whom may have been responsible for her husband's death. Former slave, Bella Jamison, works as a hired hand for Liberty as well as other women of Gettysburg. When one wounded solider unknowingly reveals a connection to a Southern plantation owner, Liberty longs for answers at the same time that Bella wants to run from the past. The bravery and the courage of the women will help them put the past behind them and move forward to an uncertain future.

I have long been a Civil War fan. I know of Gettysburg, of course, but I didn't know about what the people of the town actually went through. This is the first book I've read by Jocelyn Green and it won't be my last. Rich with historical detail, the book explores how the people - the women especially - banded together in the aftermath of one of the most horrific battles of the Civil War and their lives were forever changed.

There is so much to this book. At first, the varying points of view were hard to follow, but as the book went on, I was lost in the history of the story. The story is actually pulled from true accounts of the diaries and journals of women who lived in Gettysburg in 1863. There was one point I wanted to hit a Confederate doctor over the head for refusing to aid a wounded Union solider found on Liberty's farm when the doctor himself had all but forced Liberty, a Union widow, to assist him in treating Confederate patients. Most books I've read on the Civil War have been set in the South (Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia, etc) and show the devastation to the people of the South. It was refreshing to read a book set in the North for once. This was not a light-hearted read. There are very strong emotions in the book. In fact, once I finished it, I found a couple of books that I'd read in the past to reread that were light-hearted. Yet, I applaud the courage these women showed. True, they didn't have much choice. But they stayed and ministered to and cared for the wounded - Union or Confederate - without seeing the uniform. To these women, the hurting were just men. Men who were fighting for what they believed in whether they were from the North or from the South.

I received the Kindle version of the book for free from Moody Publishers via NetGalley for the purpose of reviewing. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Recommend to fans of the Civil War, Laura Frantz, Sarah Sundin, Francine River's historical fiction, Gone With the Wind

Rating - 4.5 stars, which will be 4 stars on Amazon.

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Sweeter than Birdsong - A Review

Kate Winter has her heart set on graduating from Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio. The problem - she is terrified of speaking in front of others. She knows she can be free of her family and her mother's determination to marry her off to a wealthy man. Despite her fear, she agrees to sing in the musicale production that fellow student Ben Hanby, a musical genius, is directing. Ben's also got a secret - he works for the Underground Railroad. When an accident force Ben and Kate to work together, both of their secrets are threatened. Somehow, Kate must find the courage to sing a song of freedom.

This is the second book in the Saddler's Legacy Series by Rosslyn Elliot. Set in the years prior to the Civil War, I was drawn into the story and the historic Underground Railroad. Freedom is a theme I found in the book. What is the price of freedom? For the slaves, it's quite possibly their own lives? For Kate and Ben, it's the willingness to go and do whatever it is that God calls them to do. Being based upon a real life family, the Hanbys, I enjoyed being able to get into their world and to read some about them. I love the time period of the Civil War. The drama of the Underground Railroad and feeling the emotions that the slaves, Ben, Kate, his mother, and others had while attempting to shelter the passengers gave me a new impression of the time period. I've never had to live in fear like the slaves. This is an excellent book, and I'm delighted to have read it.

Rating - 5 stars

I received this book for free from Thomas Nelson's booksneeze program for the purpose of reviewing. I was not required to like the book. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

His Steadfast Love by Golden Keyes Parsons

Texan beauty, Amanda Belle, never really had to pay much attention to politics until the Civil War hits close to home for her. Prior to the outbreak of the war, she's been entertaining the company of Kent Littlefield, an officer in the Union Army. When Texas joins the Confederacy, her brother Daniel signs up with the men in gray. As the years of the war pass, Amanda's loyalty is divided between the man she loves and the family she holds dear. She questions her very faith when circumstances arise that shake her to her core. But through the course of the brutal war, will she rediscover her faith and who will be hurt by whatever decision she makes?

I love to read about the Civil War. It's really my favorite time period in history. To be perfectly honest, I felt that the book dragged a little at first. But once I got into it, I enjoyed it.

Most books that I've read about the Civil War, don't focus on Texas. As a Texan, I was happy to read one that focuses on my state. Amanda's in a hard position. She loves her brother. And she's in love with Kent. But her biggest fear is that they will face each other on the field of battle and one of the men she loves will be lost forever. She questions where is God in the midst of the conflict and whose side is He on? At one point she even goes so far to inform her pastor father that she wants nothing to do with a God who evidently doesn't care. Of course her mind changes when she must cling to her faith.

When her brother returns home injured, Amanda must come face to face with where her feelings really lie. War's changed her brother from the boy he was before heading off into a man full of bitterness. She realizes that it's not a good thing to keep so much bitterness bottled up inside and makes the decision that should Kent ask her, she will marry him and try to help heal both families.

Amanda's character develops and changes the most in the book. She goes from the naive young girl to a mature woman. War and death will do that. She also realizes that she's not the pampered girl that she once was. She's learned the benefit of hard work.

While I did enjoy the book, there were parts I didn't care for. At times, it felt that the writing was very stilted and that the author expected the reader to have an understanding of what makes the characters tick. I could never make up my mind completely where Amanda stood on the issue of slavery despite being a slave owner.

I received this book for free from Thomas Nelson's Blogging for Books program for the purpose of reviewing. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Review of Sound Among the Trees by Susan Meissner

When Marielle marries Carson Bishop and moves into the family home of his first wife, Sara, she is immersed into a house that is shrouded in grief and secrets. Holly Oak, the house, is a pre-Civil War antebellum home that survived the devastation of Fredericksburg, Virginia during the war. Marielle first hears of the alleged ghost, Susannah Page, haunting the house from Susannah's great-granddaughter, Adelaide, shortly after her arrival. Each of the women who have lived in the house have suffered deep sorrows. But is it the house seeking atonement or is it Susannah's ghost causing the women to suffer? Marielle must discover the truth for herself by reading Susannah's story and make up her own mind whether or not Susannah's ghost haunts the house. Was Susannah wrongly accused of being a Northern spy and sympathizer despite being married to a Confederate officer or was there something else behind the mystery that is Susannah is the question Marielle hopes to find an answer to so that she, her husband, and her stepchildren can put the past behind them and live as a new family.

Contemporary meets the Civil War. The setting was truly right up my alley as I'm long time fan of the Civil War period. The way that the mystery surrounding Susannah and her story in the contemporary portion of the book gripped me. I couldn't wait to uncover the truth along with Marielle. When I got to the portion of the book that told Susannah's story through letters to her cousin, I was even more fascinated. I finally understood the sacrifices that Susannah made to save the ones she loved.

I'd never read any of Susan Meissner's books before, and I have to wonder why. I'm not sure why I never gave her a chance, but I will definitely keep my eyes open for additional ones by her to read. I really enjoyed this book. Usually I'm reading 3 or 4 books at one time, and yes that was true in this case. But this was one I started on Sunday night and finished on Friday because I couldn't put it down. I found the book to be intriguing and different than most of the books I read as there were really two stories in the book - Susannah's and Marielle's.

I'd have to say that there were a total of four major characters in the book - Adelaide, Susannah, Marielle, and the house itself. I'd never really thought about a house as a character but because the house was so pivotal in each of the lives of the women, it was a character of its own. The understanding of love and sacrifice and survival is a strong theme in the book. Each human character must come to her own understanding of Susannah's past and the house in order to move on with her life. This appears to be easier for some than for others. I found myself thinking too about Susannah's story. And if I'd been in her shoes. Would I have had the strength and the courage to do what she did to save the ones she loved? Or would I have taken an easy way out? I don't know.

Overall, I'd rate this book four out five stars. I received this advance readers copy for free from Waterbrook/Multnomah for review. My thoughts and opinions are my own.