Sovrin’s Star Mississippi Connection, Book 1 by John Reyer Afamasaga www.johnreyerafamasaga.org This historical novella follows two unique characters through the post-Civil War South–a crippled orphan boy of 10, and his new friend, Tiker, a man of many trades, who was himself an orphan in England. Having grown up in the streets, he became a prizefighter, a negotiator, and a spy…. Read more »
Scarlett O’Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were. GONE WITH THE WIND by Margaret Mitchell “Since its original publication in 1936, Gone With the Wind—winner of the Pulitzer Prize and one of the bestselling novels of all time—has been heralded by readers everywhere as The Great American Novel…. Read more »
I decided to base Whirligig, my novel set in the American Civil War, largely in Tennessee and Georgia. The battles around Chattanooga were interesting to me. I only knew of Chickamauga and the subsequent epic charge up Missionary Ridge in summary, but I liked their relative anonymity when compared to the better known eastern battles of Gettysburg or Sharpsburg. I… Read more »
Mercer Girls by Libbie Hawker In 1864, founder of the University of Washington, Asa Mercer, left the Territory in search of young, single women willing to make the treacherous journey from the East Coast of the United States to the Pacific Northwest. While Mr. Mercer did not hide the fact that honorable women were needed for marriage–the population in Washington… Read more »
The best way to describe these three books by Steven D. Ayres is “localized narrative history”. They aren’t fiction, but the first one, Fallow Are the Fields, is written in the voice of the author’s Civil War era ancestor and includes dialogue that pegs it as a story. The second, We Danced Until Dawn, is somewhat the same, but without… Read more »
Lincoln and His Boys by Rosemary Wells illustrated by P. J. Lynch This children’s chapter book, aimed at ages 8 – 12 years, is an easy read at 96 pages and features beautiful full-page illustrations. It begins in 1859 in the voice of one of Abraham Lincoln’s sons, Willie, who has been allowed to travel with his father on a… Read more »
BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD by Ginger Myrick While the American Civil War rages near her isolated Virginia farm, Hannah Deane Carter finds a wounded Confederate soldier collapsed and near death. With the help of her father’s former medical assistant—Jeb, who also happens to be a free black man—she nurses him back to health. They are both hiding secrets… Read more »