Thank you PRH Audio for the complimentary audiobook! And Netgalley and Random House Ballantine Books for a digital copy.

 

I have long awaited this book. In 2019 I got to see Martha Hall Kelly at a book talk/signing for Lost Roses at Interabang Books (Dallas, TX). At that book signing, Kelly talked about the next book she was working on and I was THRILLED it was a Civil War novel continuing the story of the Woolsey women. I am a lover of Civil War stories, but don't always find them to handle all aspects of that time period well. I read many books from this time period growing up that romanticized slavery and plantation life and want to make sure I am reading books now that show a better picture of what life was really like for those enslaved.

This book ticks every box of what I wanted it to be in more. Told through the stories of 3 women, Georgeanna Woolsey, a wealthy socialite who becomes a Union nurse; Jemma, a young enslaved girl who gets pulled into a new life, and Anne-May Wilson, a spoiled Southern plantation mistress who is out for her own interests. Each character is nuanced and layered and you are rooting for them to make good choices. This book has war, family drama, romance, women bettering themselves, and new layers constantly being unfolded.

Even if you haven't read Lilac Girls or Lost Roses (which I do recommend them both!), you can still read and fully enjoy this book. Plus I do recommend the audiobook version. These narrators are some of my favorite narrators period and they do a phenomenal job bringing these characters off the page.