sg_halifax
Written on May 21, 2023
Capturing the spirit of post-Civil War America is not an easy task, but the author managed to bring another era to life with a gritty finesse and verve.
The author has you in the palm of their hand in the very first sentences and their storytelling ability is first-class. They have a particular knack for the use of narrative, imagery and character development. Hester is a determined and very believable character, as is Marlow in his own way. Small details of daily life are seamlessly interspersed and treated with the same respect as the growing tension that builds chapter by chapter.
Whenever an author tackles a historical fiction book set during a period of War, the natural tendency is to write a good .vs. evil narrative. One area this book really excels is in its understanding of the murkiness of that divide during the era in which it is set... and the moral dilemnas that everyday people would have faced. As one might expect from any book with this setting, there is violence right from the get-go (page 2 in fact) so I would caution any reader uncomfortable with its inclusion of this.
There was one line from Royal in the final chapter that stood out to me - "This isn't a place I know how to be from." It beautifully captured the sense of how difficult the adaptation from one way of life to another would be for the character and it was especially poignant.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction. It is a marvellous effort and this is definitely an author that is going places!!