Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust

Book Description

Immaculee Ilibagiza grew up in a country she loved, surrounded by a family she cherished. But in 1994 her idyllic world was ripped apart as Rwanda descended into a bloody genocide. Immaculee’s family was brutally murdered during a killing spree that lasted three months and claimed the lives of nearly a million Rwandans.

Incredibly, Immaculee survived the slaughter. For 91 days, she and seven other women huddled silently together in the cramped bathroom of a local pastor while hundreds of machete-wielding killers hunted for them.

It was during those endless hours of unspeakable terror that Immaculee discovered the power of prayer, eventually shedding her fear of death and forging a profound and lasting relationship with God. She emerged from her bathroom hideout having discovered the meaning of truly unconditional loveâa love so strong she was able seek out and forgive her family’s killers.

The triumphant story of this remarkable young woman’s journey through the darkness of genocide will inspire anyone whose life has been touched by fear, suffering, and loss.

Customer Reviews:

Left to Tell: Discovering God amidst the Rwandan Holocaust.......2007-10-18

This book really reaches down into your very core. Immaculee tells her remarkable story about survival in a time of darkness and death. She finds her inner strength and communes freely with the world deep inside of her...her soul. She finds a way to bring the reader into her world and allows you to experience her deep sorrows and triumphant joys. Her courage through such adversity is remarkable! She is a living example of what true strength and courage are all about.Thank you, Immaculee, for sharing your beautiful soul. It is truly a gift of love and compassion.

Everyone needs to read this book. Wonderful.......2007-10-17

Aside from making you realize what you have to be thankful for if you are having a bad day, week, or year, this book will open your eyes, to the harshness of other country struggles, but more important how hope, determination, and faith can make miracles. This lady had to learn the English language while in a small bathroom cell in hiding with a few other women. How lazy have people who use our system today gotten? Life is easy when things are handed to you. Read this wonderful book to see how this woman conquered fear, and had strong faith, now just in God, but herself. She came out on the other side with pride,confidence and most important, her life. By right herself and those with her would have been dead. More than a good read.

Left to Tell.......2007-10-16

This is the most powerful, inspirational book I have read this decade. Her faith and love of God radiate from cover to cover. This book will make a believer out of everyone who reads it.

Powerful, gripping.......2007-10-16

I don't think there's any way I could possibly identify with what Immaculee Ilibagiza experienced in Rwanda. But her story has gone a long way towards helping me see the devastating effects of civil war in her country.

I am just beginning to learn what has happened in Rwanda, and stories like Immaculee's in turns horrify me, and give me hope. If someone who has experienced what she has can find room in her heart to forgive her aggressors and move on, then I can overcome some of the petty angers and trials I experience in my own life.

Left to Tell: Disvovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust.......2007-10-13

Left to Tell should be translated into every possible language, for adolescents in school read with discerning, sensitive teachers and discussed, required with discussion for all secondary and higher education students, and indispensible for everyone else.

The author's prompt response when asked the cause of genocide in an EWTN interview was simply: government leaders; her definition of her culture's respect for and obedience to parents, Rwandans devotion to Mary the Mother of Jesus because of her appearance to children in a Rwandan school forwarning the holocaust ten years previous to the genocide--her story represents the epitome of what can happen to every human being who chooses to be directed to Love in spite of overwhelming fear, anger, personal loss and torment.

Brokenburn: The Journal of Kate Stone, 1861-1868 (Library of Southern Civilization)

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Stone versus Chesnut
An Extraordinary Lady in Extraordinary Times

Brokenburn: The Journal of Kate Stone, 1861-1868 (Library of Southern Civilization)
Kate Stone
Manufacturer: Louisiana State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0807120170

Customer Reviews:

Stone versus Chesnut.......2007-02-07

Like Mary Boykin Chesnut, Kate Stone wrote her diary during the Civil War. They were both members of the slaveholding planter class and at the start of the war both were surrounded by servants who met their every need. But twenty year old Kate Stone's life would be more directly affected by the war. Her young uncles and brothers went to join up at the onset and before the war ended several were dead of injuries or disease. Kate Stone's Louisiana home was occupied by the Yankees forcing the family to flee to Texas. Both describe the deprivations of the war years, lack of shoe leather, lack of cloth and the unavailability of new books, and both were at times cheered by false reports of great southern victories. The two diaries complement each other.

An Extraordinary Lady in Extraordinary Times.......2001-03-26

Kate Stone is one of my favorite Civil War diarists. She is an admixture of a great privilege, passionate beliefs, lover of literature, keen social observations and amazing fortitude. Her Civil War was dangerous, turbulent and life changing.

Brokenburn was a large plantation containing over 150 slaves in Madison Parish, LA. From 1862 on, it was in the center of the Union Army's fierce assault to gain control of the Mississippi River and divide the Confederacy in half. Plantations were commandeered and slaves were encouraged to revolt. The civilian population was helpless before the demands of military control. Madison Parish had a population of approximately 9,000 of whom 7,000 were slaves. After 1861, the Parish was emptied of able-bodied white men, most of whom had been sent to far-off Virginia and Tennessee, leaving none to protect the civilians.

In 1861, Kate was 20 years old, her immediate future being beaus, courtship, and a gay social life before she settled down to become a proper southern matron. She was unsure whether this route was ideal, as she remarked, "women grew significantly uglier in wedlock and ignored and abandoned their former female friends." This comfortable world was turned upside down, never to reappear again. With great enthusiasm and some trepidation, she watched her three older brothers go off to war. Her widowed mother made it clear that 14-year-old James was now in charge of the running of the plantation and the protection of the rest of the family. I was amazed at the serene assumption that a young teenager was thrust in this role, but it seems that was the custom of the times. If you had to grow up fast, you did. Yellow fever was a constant in the area, and longevity was not a norm. Both Generals Grant and Lee wanted their troops out of these areas during "the seasons of pestilence." This was not to be, and both armies suffered devastating losses to disease. Kate treated the "fever season" as a fact of life, and planned around it with remarkable briskness.

By 1862, the Stone family was desperate. The Federal leadership demanded that they stay on their property; yet there were serious slave insurrections that threatened the lives of the plantation holders. Those slaves who were not hostile were running off, and there was no labor to farm the crops. Many southerners could not believe that their "loyal" slaves would run away. Kate was not among them, saying, "If I were in their place, I'd do the same." She was by no means sympathetic, just practical.

The family finally escaped through the bayous in a rickety canoe with nothing, not even underwear, and finally made it across the border into Texas. They were refugees along with many other prominent Louisiana families. Kate was convinced they had arrived at "a dark corner of the Confederacy." Upon noting the barefoot but hoop skirted frontier ladies, she sniffed "there must be something in the air of Texas fatal to beauty."

Kate agonized over the increasingly bad war news and was devastated by Lee's surrender. Kate is one of the most vivid, perceptive diarists of the Civil War. Her diary is one of social history, a time of calamitous change and invaluable for understanding this crucial time in American history. Kate is a natural writer and observer. A highly enjoyable read.

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Every Home Needs a Copy

Division and reunion, and the child and adult, in "Gone With the Wind"

This isn't a romance novel - far from it, but a MUST READ

One of the Greatest Books of all time!

Best Book I Ever Read

Gone With the Wind
Margaret Mitchell
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Scarlett: The Sequel to Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind"

Gone with the Wind (Two-Disc Edition)

Scarlett

The Thorn Birds

Rebecca Rebecca

ASIN: 068483068X

Amazon.com

Sometimes only remembered for the epic motion picture and "Frankly ... I don't give a damn," Gone with the Wind was initially a compelling and entertaining novel. It was the sweeping story of tangled passions and the rare courage of a group of people in Atlanta during the time of Civil War that brought those cinematic scenes to life. The reason the movie became so popular was the strength of its characters--Scarlett O'Hara, Rhett Butler, and Ashley Wilkes--all created here by the deft hand of Margaret Mitchell, in this, her first novel.

Customer Reviews:

Every Home Needs a Copy.......2007-09-14

Some of the reviews are long but I will keep this short. Gone With the Wind is the only book I have read twice. I absolutely adored this book and all the characters in it. It is my favourite book of all time and I read all sorts. I bought my mother and sister-in-law a copy because I thought they should read it too (just once). Read it and see for yourself.

Division and reunion, and the child and adult, in "Gone With the Wind".......2007-09-06

"Gone With the Wind," as a novel, has been mistakenly dismissed by literary critics as pulp fiction for the masses. This view is premature and biased, in my opinion. If one digs deeply into the fabric of this very complex novel, one is likely to find that this novel works on two very different levels: the external level, in which themes such as survival and romantic love figure prominently; and the internal level, in which themes such as division v. reunion and the child v. the adult figure prominently.

An external analysis of the novel yields much that has been obvious to the reading and movie-going public for years. "Gone With the Wind" is, most obviously, a very powerful novel about a young woman's survival of two unique crises: the American Civil War and Reconstruction of the South that followed. The personal qualities of those who survive and prosper in this novel -- characters such as Scarlett O'Hara, Rhett Butler, Mammy, Will Benteen, old Mrs. Fontaine, even Mrs. Merriwether -- are contrasted sharply with those who do not survive and prosper: Ashley Wilkes, Ellen O'Hara, Gerald O'Hara, and Scarlett's first two husbands, Charles Hamilton and Frank Kennedy.

Melanie Hamilton presents an interesting study in the story of survival. Margaret Mitchell uses her to represent the dignified stateliness of the Old South matron. Rather than becoming a victim of the Old South's disintegration, she survives in a way that equals or even surpasses Scarlett's survival. Melanie, whom Mitchell originally intended as the novel's heroine, is the woman who saves Tara from burning to the ground; the woman who drags her father's Mexican War sword to the landing at Tara, helping Scarlett defend it from the Yankee invader; and the woman who stands against polite society in order to defend Scarlett, her beloved sister-in-law, from the town's gossip. Yes, she dies at the end of the novel, and Mitchell uses this to represent the passing of the Old South. However, even here, Melanie dies in her own bed, in her own home, with her own family about her, and she dies on her own terms: after conceiving a child she knew placed her own life at risk.

It is also about three interconnected love stories: the traditional, dignified courtship and marriage of Melanie Hamilton and Ashley Wilkes; the thwarted, unconsummated relationship between Ashley Wilkes and Scarlett O'Hara; and the temptuous, passionate courtship and marriage of Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler. The central theme of these love stories is summarized early in the novel by Scarlett's father, Gerald O'Hara: "Only when like marries like can there be any happiness."

These themes, while universal and very powerful, are only external to the novel, and I don't believe the novel's power or universality are derived from the themes of survival and love. I believe its power is much more subtle. Indeed, for years, it has been a mystery to literary critics why this novel was received equally well by 10-year olds as well as 95-year olds. Therein lies its secret: it is a novel with which both the 10-year old child and the 95-year old adult can identify strongly. It is a novel about children and it is a novel about adults.

Every one of the major characters has qualities of both children and adults in them. These are handled subtly, not obviously, and the language of the novel, which I believe Margaret Mitchell crafted deliberately along these lines, takes the reader in this direction. For example, listen to what Scarlett says about men: "All the men in Scarlett's life, the Tarleton twins, the Calvert boys, Charles, and Frank, she could dismiss with the phrase, 'What a child!' Not Rhett. He was an adult in everything he did. Only Rhett and Ashley ..."

Scarlett is portrayed as both child and adult. "I'm always your little girl," she says to her mother in the middle of the Civil War, when in fact she is a widow with a 2-year old son. The woman whose heroism saves Tara from oblivion is evaluated by Rhett at the end: "My pet, you're such a child." By the end of the novel, when Scarlett is only 28 years old, she has been married three times, widowed twice, given birth to three children, and buried one of them. Yet, in her dreams, she is still "a lost child." When asked if she thought Scarlett ever got Rhett back, Margaret Mitchell said: "I don't think so, but I do think she finally grew up."

Melanie is the adult who masquerades in child's clothing -- and has a child's figure. Mitchell takes pain to describe Melanie's physical appearance "as that of a 10-year old boy, with narrow hips and height barely coming up to Ashley's shoulders." Yet it is Melanie who has the wisdom to see Scarlett's finer qualities, her strength of character, her commitment to her promises, and her ability to survive -- wisdom that is ironically viewed by Scarlett (and others) as foolishness. She is portrayed as foolish to be so loyal and loving to Scarlett; yet it turns out, in the end, that Scarlett's attachment to Ashley was imaginary, and it turns out in the end that Scarlett loves Melanie deeply. She is portrayed as foolish for defending Rhett Butler so staunchly, yet her wisdom about his good qualities is thoroughly vindicated by the novel's end. Of all the principles, it is Melanie who is the most wise -- and the most adult. Yet her external appearance is very childlike.

Rhett is usually depicted as an adult, the black sheep of a prominent Charleston family who makes his own fortune as a blockade runner from just a $1,000 investment. He admits, at novel's end, that he wanted to care for Scarlett, as an adult would care for a child; yet he is relentlessly mothered by Melanie, especially toward the end: she straightens him up so that he can be presentable to Scarlett after her miscarriage; and only she can convince him to consent to Bonnie's funeral. Further, he enables Melanie's mothering throughout the novel. She is the only person that he truly respects because, I suspect, she is a reminder to him of his own mother, a character who is rather prominent in the novel, though largely absent. Interestingly, it is only Melanie who comes into contact with her, as she greets mourners for Bonnie in the parlor of Scarlett and Rhett's mansion.

Ashley Wilkes is the real child of the four principles, but it takes Scarlett the entire duration of the novel, more than 12 years, to realize this. Ashley is the weakest character, the one who has failed to give up the "life that [he] loved," the one who depicts the charm and grace of the Old South to Scarlett -- the only time that she succumbs to the mistake of looking back. Mitchell is very deft with this scene. It is portrayed as a scene that exposes Ashley and Scarlett's illicit love for each other. However, what's really being exposed here is their common dependence on the past, Ashley's being overt and Scarlett's much more deeply repressed. By implication, it's also exposing the true nature of their attraction for each other, because they shared a common upbringing, growing up on neighboring plantations.

This scene is expertly crafted. While Ashley and Scarlett are reminiscing about the charm and grace of their common past -- an event which culminates in their hugging in a truly platonic manner, one in which they begin to understand each other -- they are exposed to the gossip and criticism of Atlanta society. What's being exposed here is not their unconsummated romance; it's their common reliance on living in the past. It's fitting that they should be exposed when they're reminiscing about their common past, because that is the real force of their attraction, the real reason for their love (an ultimately childish love, by the way). Mitchell uses this scene to expose them not to Atlanta society, but to the reader. They're not in love with each other; they're in love with a life that is (forgive the cliche) gone with the wind. At the end of the novel, when Scarlett realizes she truly loves Rhett, she sums up her relationship with Ashley: "I've lost my lover and I've gained another child."

Virtually every relationship in this novel can be evaluated as child v. adult; think, for example, of Mammy, the real mother figure of the novel. Look at Ellen and Gerald O'Hara; he was 43 when they married and she was 15; yet she mothers him, right up until her death. Consider one of their final episodes, recounted to Scarlett in Atlanta by John Wilkes, in which Gerald wanted to fight in the war. Ellen puts him to the test insofar as riding his horse is concerned, a test that "little Gerald, who barely came up to her shoulders" failed miserably. After Ellen dies, Gerald's life collapses and he is a broken man, right until his death.

Finally, there is the theme of division and reunion that appears on numerous occasions throughout the novel. Consider how the novel starts: Scarlett is seated on the front steps of Tara between the Tarleton twins -- a divisive force for two brothers who are otherwise as "alike as two bolls of cotton." The novel begins with internal and external symbols of division. The Civil War starts. We are introduced to Scarlett and Melanie, the two heroines who are complete opposites and, at least for Scarlett, adamantly opposed to one another. We are introduced to Ashley and Rhett, the two heroes who are also complete opposites, at least externally, and rather opposed to one another; Ashley dislikes Rhett's blackguardism, and Rhett has contempt for Ashley's weaknesses.

Mitchell deliberately tries to convince the reader, by cleverly contrasting their external characteristics, that these characters are hopelessly divided. Scarlett "hates" Melanie because she is a foolish simpleton and Ashley's wife; Rhett is a symbol of the New South, and Ashley is a symbol of the Old South; Rhett is a survivor, Ashley is a victim. Scarlett is a divisive figure in Melanie and Ashley's marriage. Scarlett is a divisive figure in the Hamilton-Wilkes families: toward the end, she is the indirect cause of a family feud that splits the family into two separate camps. Scarlett, herself, is a divided character - the result of an alliance between an Irish immigrant and an established aristocrat from the Savannah coast. "In her face were too sharply blended the sharp features of her father, an Irish immigrant, and the more delicate features of her mother, a French aristocrat from Savannah." Mitchell has even put division on Scarlett's face -- one reason that Vivien Leigh, who as an actress utilized divided eyebrows (one up, one down) for Scarlett, was such a perfect choice for the part. "She is my Scarlett," admitted Margaret Mitchell.

Division is the premise of the novel. Reunion is its conclusion. Everything that was divided is ultimately united by novel's end. Melanie and Scarlett reach an understanding with each other; Scarlett comes to realize how much she loves and relies on Melanie, and comes to appreciate her strength, the "steel courage" that has sustained her through many crises. Indeed, the evolution of their relationship is one of the most touching and endearing aspects of the novel. Whereas we begin the novel with Ashley depicted as the war hero whose life is lived for "dignity and honor" and with Rhett depicted as the blackguard who is motivated only by crass selfishness, we end the novel with Ashley reduced to a helpless, purposeless victim and Rhett enhanced as a loving husband and father. Along the way, the stark contrasts that Mitchell draws early between Rhett and Ashley yield to sympathetic comparisons. "Did it ever occur to you, Scarlett, that Rhett and I are fundamentally alike?" Ashley inquires toward the end. Yet their similarities are evident -- though repressed -- from the beginning. In a surprising confrontation with Mrs. Merriwether, Melanie defends Rhett's criticisms of the war because they mirror things her husband has written to her. Ashley and Rhett begin the novel as divided and opposed to one another; they end united and unified as characters. Melanie and Scarlett, likewise, begin the novel as opposed opposites and end the novel united and unified. Division begets reunion.

This theme, division and reunion, is especially powerful when you consider the historical context of the novel. In my view, it is no accident, but rather a careful decision on Margaret Mitchell's part, to time the action of the novel from April 1861, the start of the Civil War, the ultimate symbol of division, to September 1873, the end of Reconstruction, the ultimate symbol of reunion. It is a breathtaking historical backdrop for a novel whose dramatic power is derived from characters experiencing division and reunion in their lives.

It is curious that Mitchell's novel has born the brunt of belittling and contemptuous literary criticism over the years. When it debuted, it sold millions and won the Pulitzer Prize; no film, before or since, has ever been so widely anticipated as the 1939 film was. Its massive popularity, I suspect, and Mitchell's melodramatic writing style have contributed to this contempt. However, when one considers the thematic breadth of the novel, its impeccable structure, and the awesome scope of its narrative force, "Gone With the Wind" is a singular and astonishing achievement. I believe its universality, its appeal from the 10-year old to the 95-year old, is best explained by the themes of child v. adult and division v. reunion. I also believe that it is these themes that explain why it captivates us after 71 years and will continue to captive generations to come.

This isn't a romance novel - far from it, but a MUST READ.......2007-08-02

This is the least romantic novel I have every read, and I mean that as a compliment. The heroine is a vain, selfish, unmaternal, incredibly strong but shallow woman. The hero is at first almost a cipher - tall, dark, handsome, mysterious, rich - regular romance fodder.

They both grow older and harder as the book moves on. The ending is a surprise, but only because Mitchell faced up to reality.

I first read this as a 12-year-old. I feigned a sore throat for three days so I could stay off school and continue. Back then, Scarlett was my hero, and I knew Rhett would take her back. Now, I'm older than Rhett was when the novel closed - and I know he didn't take her back.

It's one of the most compelling novels I have ever read. The period detail puts you right into an age/place I never knew existed, but it is so lifelike I suspend belief. Emma is boring by comparison; War & Peace, confusing - and those are two of my favorite books.

I just read on wiki that someone is writing a book based on Rhett's side of things. Tread carefully because you tread on my dreams.

One of the Greatest Books of all time!.......2007-06-25

Gone with the Wind is one of the best books ever written, maybe the best.
I can not even express how much I love this book.
Many people disregard Gone With the Wind as a just a lenthy romance, but this is NOT what it is. Gone with the wind is SO much more than a romance. It is, for one, a book about the Civil War from the Southern people's perspective. This book gives the reader a brand new perspective on the Civil War and it is refreshingly NOT like all the other mundane Civil War books. It is full of history, but there is never a boring moment: Margret Mitchell is a brilliant writer whose beautiful and exciting descriptions, livily dialoge and none-stop story keep the book engrossing and never boring. I couldn't put it down!
Again, Gone with the WInd is not just a romance, as I said, it is a refreshing Civil War book; but it is not only that. Gone with the wind has many suspensful, dangerous, and sometimes violent moments, such as The Burning of Atlanta or the event when Scarlett shoots a Yankee invader.
The characters of GWTW are immortal. Each character is so beloved to so many readers, and there is a good reason why. Every character has his own fascinating personality. Every type of person, from selfish to greedy to tragic to stupid to controlling to timid to utterly kind is expressed in the book's countless engrossing characters.
The story line is also wonderful. It is very complex but never confusing; it has such a good main plot and so many intriuging sub-plots.
For the reasons I have attempted to state above and for so many more, Gone with the Wind is a beloved American Classic that has endured and will endure for many years to come.
Whether are a man or woman, girl or boy, old or young, READ THIS BOOK!
You will not regret it.
And it just may be, that after you have entered the world of Gone with the Wind, you will find in it a new favorite that is worth reading over and over again.

Best Book I Ever Read.......2007-06-23

Margaret Mitchell was a genius. This book is so detailed and interesting it is hard to describe. Do not judge it by the movie. It is a very accurate portrayal of life before, during and after the War Between the States, in the South. Scarlett was not always an admirable character, but she was not boring.

The Velvet Shadow (The Heirs of Cahira O'Connor Series , No 3)

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The Best Yet!
Fantastic Historical Fiction Based During the Civil War
Great Book Must Read
What a wonderful story!
Hunt highlights women in history

The Velvet Shadow (The Heirs of Cahira O'Connor Series , No 3)
Angela Elwell Hunt
Manufacturer: WaterBrook Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1578561310
Release Date: 1999-02-16

Book Description

THE HEIRS OF CAHIRA O’CONNOR SERIES - BOOK THREE It is said that as Cahira, daughter of the great Irish king Rory O’Connor, lay dying of a wound from a Norman blade, she lifted her hand toward heaven and beseeched God that others would follow…breaking forth from the courses to which they are bound to restore right in this murderous world…

To Kathleen O’Connor, Cahira’s story was nothing more than a legend–until research divulged that the tale was true. Stunned, Kathleen realizes she herself bears Cahira’s mark. Is she destined to continue the legacy? To find the truth, Kathleen must delve into the past to find the truth about The Heirs of Cahira O'Connor…

When Flanna O’Connor, a young medical student in Boston, is cut off from her family in Charleston at the start of the Civil War, she decides to disguise herself and move south with the Union Army. While in disguise, she must prove herself as a soldier and a doctor, both to her messmates and to Major Alden Haynes, brother to the man she has tentatively agreed to marry. But when Flanna and Alden are trapped between two armies, can Flanna trust God with her future…and with the love she has sought all her life?

Customer Reviews:

The Best Yet!.......2007-01-10

Book Three of the Heirs of Cahira O'Connor was my favorite of the series. I enjoyed the setting - the Civil War - and the development of Flanna's understanding of the real issues of the war. The aspect of a woman doctor in a time when they were not accepted was very well done. Love, loyalty, faith - it has it all...

Fantastic Historical Fiction Based During the Civil War .......2006-05-16

This book is the 3rd in "The Heirs of Cahira O'Conner" series. Although I haven't read the 4th, so far this one is my favorite. Not that the first 2 are not good, they are terrific, it's just that this one gripped me from the beginning. I read this 400 page novel in just 24 hours!

Flanna O'Conner is finishing up medical school in Boston when the Civil War begins. She longs for her family in Charleston SC and disguises herself as a soldier in her effort to return to the south. Although Flanna's character has depth from the beginning, her travels deepen her character and trust in God. This is a profound story of sacrifice, loyalty, and how the effects of this war dramatically changed so many lives. These people gave up virtually everything (their lives, family, homes, & work) for a cause they believed in.

Flanna's experience and what is shared in this book really brings significance to the heroism of those who served in the Civil War. The author does an excellent job of researching our country's culture and circumstances during the mid-1800s. At the end she writes two pages on her references. I had no idea that there were 400 women who actually did pose as men in order to serve in the Civil War.

What I love about historical fiction is that it gives me a heart for the people who lived during the time, and a desire to learn more. What a great way to learn about history!!

Great Book Must Read.......2004-08-29

I love this book. Even though I'm just 15. I thought is had an amazing plot and a wonderful ending. The only reason I'm giving it 4 stars is because of the beginning. It was incredibly slow and boring. But I'm so glad I decided to keep reading!

What a wonderful story!.......2002-05-23

This book is moving...I thought that it brought a new eye to the Civil War. Flanna is in Boston, studying to get her medical degree so that she can return to Charleston and help her father in his practice. However, the Civil War breaks out and Flanna is forced to figure out how she will get home. As in the other Cahira O'Connor books, she dresses as a boy and becomes a soldier.

I thought this book was very well written from beginning to end. The death of the professor is Kathleen's impetus to get back to work on the story of the heirs of Cahira O'Connor. What she finds leads her to wonder what HER role in this will be.

I highly recommend this book to anyone, but please read the other 2 books in the series first. This book will make you want to rush out and pick up the 4th.

Hunt highlights women in history.......2000-05-24

Novelist Angela Elwell Hunt has done it again! Her exciting historical women's fiction series shines with complex stories of gifted women seeking to make a place for themselves in a world, dominated by narrow ideas of women as little more than man pleasers.

Velvet Shadow is the third in a Cahira O Connor series. Flanna O'Connor a Southern bell who defied convention to study medicine in Boston Mass on the eve of the Civil War. Her hopes to take her degree back to the south are shattered by the outbreak of war, cut off from her family she tries to enlist in the Army as a Doctor and prejudice turns her back.

This theme runs throughtout the story as the wealthy Bostonian abolitionists bemoan the fate of slaves, while mistreating their Irish servants. Her keen eye for hypocrisy in society is entertaining. I had not known that some freed blacks also had slaves. Her devotion to research illuminates the Zeitgeist (ruling ideas) of the times. When an aspiring politican pursues her to marry him and forsake medicine, Flanna, like her ancestor and many actual women in the Civil War impersonates a man to join the Union Army. She hopes to make her way home to the south and desert but her destiny as a Doctor calls her to steal supplies to treat the wounded, in spite of threat of exposure, court martial or worse. As a surgeon she becomes the Velvet Shadow who saves men who would have perished without her. Hunt has captured the misery and mismanagement of troops, supplies etc in this heartbreaking war that redefined the history of our country. Again, we are led through a series of heart breaks and changes the character must conquer to survive and thrive.

This book will spark your appetite to read the earlier books in the series that began with The Silver Sword, set in 1400's Anika of Prague must pretend to be a knight in order to escape unwanted attention of a nobleman's son. She plays in integral part in story of Jan Hus, burned at the stake for his religious beliefs.

In the second book, the Golden Cross opens in 1642 when Aidan O'Connor penniless after the death of her father at sea ekes out a living in the slums of Colonial Batavia while her spirit longs for artistic expression. A master cartographer recognizes her talent and senses God leading him to train her. Aidan enters the aristocratic world as apprenticing artist and is coached in fine manners of high born women. She longs to learn and become a wealthy artist to lift her friends from the web of wharf poverty and degradation. Aidan casts aside the brocade to masquerade as a cabin boy aboard the exploration vessel of Captain Tasman to pursue her dream. The voyage is fraught with danger, slaughter and brings Aidan to cling to God. Aidan's voyage leads to unexpected danger, treasure and you'll need to read the book to find out if she settles or succeeds.

As readers we learn in pursuing the talents God has placed within us, we can experience Kairos time creative expansion of time, versus everyday chronos time. This writer broadens my view of the past and gives inspiration to my future.

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Civil War Diary Quilt

NIce book

History in the making

Civil War History and 6" Quilt Blocks

Civil War Diaries

Civil War Diary Quilt
Rosemary Youngs
Manufacturer: Krause Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Women | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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The Amish Circle Quilt: 121 Quilt Block Patterns That Tell A Story

The Civil War Love Letter Quilt

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ASIN: 0873499956

Book Description

The Civil War era was a time of great tragedy and triumph, and for a diverse group of women it was a distinctive thread in their lives and their quilting. Quilters and historians alike will appreciate the timeless lessons shared through actual diary entries and 121 related quilt blocks featured in The Civil War Diary Quilt, from Rosemary Youngs, author of the innovative book, The Amish Circle Quilt.

This reference incorporates instructions, list of supplies, a photo gallery, and 121 quilt blocks inspired by actual diary entries from 10 women living during the Civil War. Readers meet a variety of women including Mary Austin Wallace through her stories about running a 160-acre farm in Michigan, while her husband is away at war; 17-year-old Emma Florence LeConte as she recounts the day the Union army set a path of destruction through Columbia, SC; and Rachel Young King Anderson who moved away from Tennessee with her husband and children to start a new life. In addition to the 121 blocks that make a full quilt, this must-have reference includes smaller projects that use the same blocks.

-Actual diary entries of 10 women living during the Civil War create a unique historical reference

-Includes 121 full-size quilt block patterns that can also be used to make smaller additional projects

Customer Reviews:

Civil War Diary Quilt.......2007-08-17

This is a lovely book but not as good as i thought it would be. I have wanted it for over one year and now that I have it, realise I could live without it. The illustrations and overall appeal ie. colour, setout and feel are lacking. Not a really appealing book in my opinion. Overall it is a lack-lustre offering. Some good facts re: real life stories from the Civil War however.

NIce book.......2007-08-11

This is a great thick book of blocks that coincide with letters from the Civil War period. A group of us made quilts from this book. ITs a keeper.

History in the making.......2007-07-12

I really enjoyed the stories, just wish that there were more. Good book for quilter's who like to take patterns and recreate them in EQ6 or other software to print out hard copy patterns. You could trace and draw out patterns in the book and do English paper-piecing too.

Civil War History and 6" Quilt Blocks.......2007-07-03

This is an interesting quilt book and history book rolled into one. The blocks pictured are 6 inches square, with a CD of patterns available from the author to help you print or resize them. The diary stories reveal much about the day-to-day life of a diverse group of Civil-War era women. Becoming involved in Rosemary Youngs Yahoo group has added much to my enjoyment of the history portion, and helped me with the actual piecing of the quilt. Her previous book is Amish Circle, and her follow-up book (just published) is Love Letters. I own them all!The Amish Circle Quilt: 121 Quilt Block Patterns That Tell A StoryThe Civil War Love Letter Quilt

Civil War Diaries.......2007-06-02

If you enjoy history and quilts, this is an excellant book to combine both. Interesting reading and I'm anxious to start the quilt blocks. Pictures of the quilt blocks are very clear but do need to know the basics of quiltmaking to make the blocks as there are no instructions with the blocks.

Behind Rebel Lines: The Incredible Story of Emma Edmonds, Civil War Spy

Average customer rating:

School Review
The heroing tale of a young girl taking a stand
Behind Rebel Lines
The good Forcer
A woman's extraordinary role in the civil war

Behind Rebel Lines: The Incredible Story of Emma Edmonds, Civil War Spy
Seymour Reit
Manufacturer: Gulliver Books Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Canada | History & Historical Fiction | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0152164278

Book Description

In 1861, when war erupted between the States, President Lincoln made an impassioned plea for volunteers. Determined not to remain on the sidelines, Emma Edmonds cropped her hair, donned men’s clothing, and enlisted in the Union Army. Posing in turn as a slave, peddler, washerwoman, and fop, Emma became a cunning master of disguise, risking discovery and death at every turn behind Confederate lines.

Customer Reviews:

School Review.......2006-12-15

Disguised as a union soldier, Emma would risk her life for her country. Emma Edmonds was born in Saint John, Canada in 1840. When she was sixteen years old she ran away to the United States. When she was twenty one, President Lincoln made a request for seventy five thousand men to volunteer for the Army. She decided that she wanted to be a field nurse for the Union Army but those jobs were so dangerous that they were only given to men. So she cut her hair short, dressed up like a man, and enlisted under the name Franklin Thompson. Emma was assigned to the Second Regiment of Michigan Volunteers. The next day she and all the others in her Regiment were off to training camp. Upset at hearing the news that one of her friends had died in the war, Emma went to go see a woman named Mrs. Butler who lived on the camp with the soldiers. Emma started talking and she ended up telling her secret identity. After that day, Mrs. Butler became Emma's closest friend and the only one who new here secret. One day news came to the camp that a Union spy had been killed at a rebel camp. Now they needed a new spy and Emma volunteered. So she disguised herself as a black slave named Cuff. She snuck onto a rebel camp to gather any valuable information. She found out how many weapons they had, where people were hiding, anything that would help the union defeat the rebels. Once she had gathered enough information, she snuck back to the Union camp. With this information, the union began to fight. Emma became very busy in the hospital as more and more got injured. As the union reached a river, they had to stop and make a bridge across it which would take weeks. The Union army didn't have enough information to make an attack. It was time for Emma to become a spy again. This time she dressed up as a middle aged peddler woman. In this disguise she had no trouble at all getting into the camp and she was allowed to walk around freely. She found out a lot of useful information including the fact that the rebels had an ambush waiting for the union troops. She then rode away on a one of the rebel's horses. They were so impressed with Emma's work that they made her a messenger during all the fighting. For many months Emma was sent off on spy missions and was successful on all of them. Emma returned to being a nurse as the war went on. She was then struck with malaria. She couldn't go to the hospital she worked at because then they would find out she was a girl. So she decided to leave, get the help she needed and then come back. So she left and checked herself into a hospital. Once she got her malaria under control, she saw a union poster in a window. It said that Franklin Thompson was absent without leave. He was known as a deserter. Emma was upset but she continued being a nurse under her rightful name. Later on, after she was married she petitioned the war department to review her case. She had her military rights restored and received and honorable discharge. Other troops were surprised to find out that their old friend Frank Thompson was actually Emma Edmonds. Emma lived in La Porte until her death in 1898. This is a good book full of adventure and suspense.

I thought it was cool how Emma was able to pull off so many disguises. Emma's biggest disguise was being a man. She was able to fool everyone, even her fellow soldiers who she became friends with, that she was a guy. She pulled it off without anyone ever asking questions. Also, there was her favorite disguise, the black slave named Cuff. She was again pretending to be a guy and she was able to come up with something to make her skin look dark. She was able to fool everyone in the rebel camp. Another disguise was as a peddler woman. Even though she was dressed up as a girl, no one ever thought that she actually looked like a real girl. She was even able to fool them then.

Emma was brave and took many risks during her life. One big risk was just signing up. She could have gotten into a lot of trouble if they found out that she was lying and was a girl. And being in the middle of a war is dangerous too. Another risk was when Emma disguised herself as Mr. Mayberry. She was supposed to lead a man, who was leaking union information to the rebels, into a union ambush. If anything went wrong she could've ended up dead and no one would have known. Also, when she was dressed up as a black slave woman, she could have gotten killed. She found secret rebel documents and was going to take them back to her camp. But if she was caught with them they probably would have killed her.

When ever Emma made a decision she stuck to it and didn't turn back. For example, when she decided to run away. She was only sixteen and was afraid of her dad. But she set her fears aside and made the decision to leave and she was happy about it. Another example is when she decided to volunteer for the Army. She was scared and worried that they wouldn't believe her disguise. But she made her decision and wasn't going to second guess herself. Also, when she wanted to become a spy. It was dangerous but she wanted to do it anyway. And even after Mrs. Butler tried and tried to convince her not to do it, Emma stuck to her decision.

This is a great book that will make you not want to put it down. I would recommend it to most people who like biographies and adventure story. This book may not interest everyone but overall it was good.

C. Chapman

The heroing tale of a young girl taking a stand.......2006-02-21

Emma Edmonds is a young girl from Canada, living in the North during the Civil War. She's always been outgoing and bold- never able to stay in one place at a time. So when she feels a calling to join the Union army, she does what any rebellious girl would do- cuts her hair, gets the uniform, and joins up. At first she's awkward and unsure- terrified that she'll be discovered. She sees the whole thing as a big adventure-that is, until an old love interest of hers is killed in the war. She decides to really take a stand and looks at the war in a whole different way. She fights with all her power-until she gets word that a Union spy was recently killed by the Confederates. She quickly lands the job of replacement. She goes across the rebel lines, a different disguise each time, and collects useful information which helped to save many battles.
Emma Edmonds, whom I had never heard of before reading the book, is a facinating character. How she summoned the courage to join the army I will never know. A very good book, but a little slow in places.

Behind Rebel Lines.......2005-05-03

I didn't really like this book. I didn't really like the author's writing style, it was a little hard to understand and follow. The subject wasn't very interesting to me. I think that it would have been hard to try to re-create a story about the civil war. I think that the author did good on that.

I wouldn't really recommend this book unless you are interested in things about the army. I think that it was cool though that a woman would take that kind of risk just to be in combat. Also it was cool that she was that passionate about serving her country.

The good Forcer.......2004-12-11

My grandma forced me to read "Behind Rebel Lines". But it turned out to be an awsome and interesting book!

A woman's extraordinary role in the civil war.......2003-12-28

Behind the Lines is an adaptation of the Emma Edmonds story for young adults. Emma Edmonds was a native of Saint John New Brunswick, Canada who left for the United States several years prior to the war. She eventually found her way to Michigan where, following the outbreak of war, she under the alias Franklin Thompson enlisted with the 2nd Michigan Infantry. She served with the unit as an orderly for about a year before she volunteered herself as a spy, and during the course of the next year went on eleven assignments. Not only were her spying activities dangerous, but she always had to remain vigilant among her comrades as well, lest her identity be discovered. This is a very interesting and entertaining bit of history, one that is sure to interest even some of those who insist that history is "bo-ring".

A Mist of Prophecies: A Novel of Ancient Rome

Average customer rating:

Last Tango in the Subura: Gordianus and the Prophetess
Amazing work
Saylor has regained balance.
Ancient Rome at its Very Best
OK, But Could Have Been Much Better

A Mist of Prophecies: A Novel of Ancient Rome
Steven Saylor
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Minotaur
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Historical | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0312271212

Book Description

During the Roman Civil War, as the forces of Pompey and Julius Caesar fight a series of battles in the provinces over control of the Republic, Rome itself is a hotbed of intrigue as those left behind wait for word.In this tentative and treacherous environment, a beautiful young seeress is murdered in the marketplace.Possibly mad and claiming no memory of her own past, Cassandra - like her namesake - is reputed to have had the true gift of prophecy and, as a result, she became a confidante of the rich and powerful. Gordianus the Finder, who had become obsessed with the woman and her mystery, starts to investigate her murder.As the political situation in Rome continues to decay, the citizenry veers towards ruin, and everyone waits for word out in the far off fields of war, Gordianus begins to peel away the veils of secrecy that surround Cassandra's life and death. What lies underneath involves one, possibly many, of the most powerful women in Rome and the truth could not only put Gordianus's life in danger but affect the very future of Rome itself.AUTHORBIO: Steven Saylor has had a lifelong fascination with ancient Rome, from the drive-in movies of his boyhood (Cleopatra, Spartacus, Ben Hur), to his degree in history from the University of Texas, and through his appearances on the History Channel as an expert on Roman politics and life. He is the author of nine volumes in the Roma Sub Rosa series, most recently Last Seen in Massilia, as well as A Twist at the End, a historical novel set in 19th century Texas.He divides his time between Berkeley, California and Austin, Texas.

Customer Reviews:

Last Tango in the Subura: Gordianus and the Prophetess.......2007-01-31

While Caesar and Pompey are in Greece preparing for the ultimate showdown of their civil war, Rome is in dire straits under its Caesar-appointed custodians. Food is in short supply and the economy has all but collapsed with soaring inflation and a population deeply in debt (including Gordianus). Utter chaos could ensue at any moment as several opportunists exploit Rome's weakness to gain power for themselves. As if things weren't bad enough, Gordianus' wife Bethesda has fallen under a mysterious ailment that threatens to be fatal. Gordianus and his family are in the Forum seeking food (and hopefully a cure for Bethesda) when the beautiful but obviously deranged woman called "Cassandra" (for her alleged gift of prophecy), runs to Gordianus and collapses in his arms telling him before she dies that she has been poisoned by another woman. It turns out that Cassandra and Gordianus were not strangers. They were, in fact, secret lovers. (Yes, at his age!) Since Cassandra was a beggar with no relatives, Gordianus gives her a funeral. To his surprise, seven of the richest, most powerful women in Rome (including the wives and mistresses of Caesar, Cicero and Mark Antony) come to watch her body burn. Gordianus is sure that one of them is the murderer. Keeping his grief secret, Gordianus tries to identify the killer, as he is drawn deeper and deeper into Cassandra's complex world. Who exactly WAS Cassandra? Where did she come from? Why was she there? Was she a genuine seeress? A clever actress? A spy? Or all of the above? If she was a spy, who was she working for and why?

A MIST OF PROPHECIES is a more conventionally "Agatha Christie" structured mystery than the previous volumes: a murder is committed, the suspects identified and then interviewed to discover the killer's identity. I was sure I had correctly guessed the murderess and her motivation at the end of Chapter 13, but I was wrong! Once again, what really makes the novel worthwhile are the colorful details of daily life in the Roman Empire. This book doesn't have the depth that some of the previous volumes have (e.g., THE VENUS THROW), but it's one of the faster-paced entries in this series and a lot of fun. At this point, there is only one more volume in this series after this book. I really don't want it to end! But A MIST OF PROPHECIES hints at the intriguing prospect of Gordianus' daughter Diana and her husband Davus entering the family business as a team. So maybe it won't be over!

Amazing work.......2006-08-29

Saylor has definately become a master of his art. Each of the characters are so vivid, it is obvious that Saylor treats each with respect and critical thought has been put into view point analysis. The images Saylor uses to bring Rome alive are personal and palpable. Its as if Saylor travelled in time and really hung out with these people.

The story line really didnt draw me in to the novel that much. But if anyone can make a story about a bunch of bickering old ladies facsinating, you better believe that it is Saylor who will do it.

Although the story line didnt excite me, the realness of the characters that did. I mean, I almost feel like I was down their by the river with Gordianus and Clodia.

Saylor has regained balance. .......2005-10-11

Well, Gordianus continues to be entirely implausible as far as actual Late Republican Rome was concerned. But then this novel manages to obtain an eerie athmosphere, as Gordianus enters old age in earnest in a setting of civil war, chaos and impending doom, the telling of the story revolves around a savvy counterpoint structure, and the mystery is actually satisfactory and not a pretext for displaying historical erudition. I look foward to reading the next novel - something "Last seem in Massilia" didn't quite manage to do.

Ancient Rome at its Very Best.......2004-11-14

Gordianus the Finder is accosted in the marketplace by a beautiful young woman. She staggers towards him and dies in his arms. The woman is known as Cassandra by many, but this is not her real name, but a name given by the people who believed she had the true gift of prophecy. lots of people would pay handsomely for this gift, others would do anything in their power to supress it. Cassandra has had the ear of some of the most influential people in Rome, people who would stop at nothing . . .
Obsessed with Cassandra's death Gordianus sets out to investigate. What he uncovers has serious implications concerning some of the most important women in Rome and puts Gordianus in serious danger of losing his own life.
Saylor brings the sights, sounds and smells of Ancient Rome to life yet again, surely this is how it must have been.

OK, But Could Have Been Much Better.......2004-05-31

"A Mist of Prophecies" was a disappointment. Granted, it was an above average novel, but it had the potential to be much more.

The novel opens in Rome in 48 BC when the city is in tumult and the city government is hard pressed to maintain basic law and order. There is an alleged prophetess who goes under the name of Cassandra and who like her Trojan namesake is widely believed to be able to forsee the future. However, she is poisoned and detective Gordianus the Finder decides to try to figure out who's responsible for the dirty deed.

So far, so good. However, the plot unravels from there. Gordianus decides that the killer must have been one of the seven prominent women who went to Cassandra's funeral although it is not clear on what basis he makes that determination.

One problem with mystery novels set in past historical times is that the detectives are invariably private citizens who do not have any legal power to compel folks to talk to them. Nor do they have any sort of investigator's license to give them legitimacy. So, the authors of these novels generally have the suspects answer just about every question put to them by the hero except the one that would establish who done it. When a suspect refuses to answer a particular question, you know right then and there that this person is either guilty or a red herring.

In the case of "A Mist Of Prophecies," the reader can figure out who the villainess is early on in the book since the author, Steven Saylor, failed to establish a plausible red herring. The guilty party in this novel just about did everything possible to make it easy for Gordianus to determine her guilt so much so that she might as well as gone around in public with a target painted on her back.

While the mystery part is weak, the historical part is the novel's strength. The reader learns a lot about Roman history during this important time period in a way that holds the reader's interest. Additionally, the novel is well written and has richly drawn characters.

Book Description

When Confederate men marched off to battle, southern women struggled with the new responsibilities of directing farms and plantations, providing for families, and supervising increasingly restive slaves. Drew Faust offers a compelling picture of the more than half-million women who belonged to the slaveholding families of the Confederacy during this period of acute crisis, when every part of these women's lives became vexed and uncertain. Faust chronicles the clash of the old and the new within a group that was at once the beneficiary and the victim of the social order of the Old South.

Customer Reviews:

Roots of the "lost cause" mentality.......2007-07-31

Faust does not try to hide her sympathy for these women or admiration for those who were resourceful, nor does she pull any punches in revealing their selfishness. The point of the book, however, was not to solicit sympathy for upper class white women, but to illuminate their influence on the outcome of the war and on the mind of the south as it evolved after the war. The ladies deserve much of the credit--and blame--for the "lost cause" mentality that holds sway with many Southerners still today. For that insight alone we owe a great debt to Drew Gilpin Faust.

Academic But Still Interesting.......2006-07-13

Mothers of Invention is a very academic analysis of the impact of the civil war on the notions of role and gender long held by the upper class women of the old south. It rocked their world, that's for sure and it sounds as if they surely needed it. It is based on the contents of letters and diaries written by elite aristocratic women whose biggest concern about the war was that they were unable to attend social functions or obtain silk and satin for their dresses. Or that their husbands would die and not come back and restore their former way of life.

The subject of this book is a single class of women - rich, white, spoiled and utterly despicible. These women complainted bitterly of how the war effected their miserable self centered lives with little concern about the effects the war had on those who fought it and what they were experiencing. The war meant little more to them than a threat to their way of life.

Ms. Faust tries to portray her subjects as victims and prisoners of their circumstances but these women were anything but. They embraced the supposed chains that bound them and had little concern for the profound and widespread pain and suffering caused for millions of others as a result of the war they so glamorized and romanticized.

This book is rather tedious if you are not a fan nor speaker of that odd language known as academia (why in the world does she include long diary and letter passages in French?) But it has some very good moments and will give the reader new insight into how truly horrid those magnolia queens really were. Not even a feminist writer sympathetic to anything in petticoats can hide that fact; as much as she tries.

Well organized, but seems to be missing some material.......2005-03-06

The first thing to know when you pick up this book, is that first, it deals basically only with diaries and letters, and that probably only a woman interested in the history of women would be interested. The entire book is very...well, womanly. I did enjoy what I learned about Southern women (and believe me, it is ONLY slaveholding woman, as the title suggests), but I couldn't help but ask why Faust did not ever mention anybody over the age of about 30. If they don't have any records of any diaries of older women, she should have said so, because I was wondering about it the entire time. Basically it only covers how women felt about their husbands being gone (wanting protection, resorting to writing as comfort, scared about slave uprisings, etc) but hardly anything was said about SONS being gone. Where were they? And only a little bit more was said about fathers being gone. Over all, I did learn about women during the Civil War from the South, but only a very small portion of them. I would probably only recommend this book as an asset to research about women in the 19th century, or to anyone who wonders what else was going on in the country apart from the war.

Good, but a bit misleading.......2004-11-05

Reading this book, I got the impression that the author buys into the impression most people have of pre-war Southern women - the vapid Southern belle who basically did nothing until the war began, then suddenly she had to run the plantation. Not true! If one reads diaries and letters of the period, the daily running of the home was left to the women - managing the slaves (if the family owned any). Women handled a good deal more of the marketing and financial running of farms, especially, than is generally believed. Perhaps women weren't involved in politics, but the backbone of southern life was the home and that was the woman's province. Women proved their capability before and during the war by managing the homefront. As for refugees - the tales told by thousands of women who were forced to flee their homes are far in excess of the numbers suggested by the author. The worst atrocity of the war - the hundreds of women captured by the Union in Roswell, Georgia - is ignored. The author also suggests that support for the war by southern women waned as it went on, another questionable fact in light of the many diaries of the period and the tremendous outpouring of grief at the surrender. Most women couldn't bear to record the end of the Confederacy in their diaries and surviving letters are filled with bitterness. Still, this book is an excellent researcher. Also recommend Juanita Leisch's books on "Civil War Civilians" and "Who Wore What" although her fashion research should be taken with a grain of salt as it is theory only based on a sampling of period photos.

Excellent overview of elite women's Civil War experience.......2002-11-21

In "Mothers of Invention," Drew Gilpin Faust explores the ways in which the Civil War transformed traditional gender roles among middle- and upper-class southern women. Gilpin theorizes that Confederate women certainly were aware of the effect that government policies had on their lives-even if the leaders, at times, were not-and that women's views conscription, home defense, economic production and slavery influenced and, ultimately, undermined their support for the war.

Her key point seems to be that the war overturned the "social contract" in which elite women accepted subordination and dependence for male protection and privilege. Although men were off protecting their homes in the abstract sense, women were left to deal with the day-to-day realities of food shortages and an invading army occupying their homes.

Narrowing exceptions to the draft, the military's refusals to grant furloughs in times of great family need, and government policies regarding food requisitions especially galled women. Faust puts a particularly interesting gender perspective on the draft exemption for those owning 20+ slaves. Normally, this exemption is viewed solely in class terms: "Rich man's war, poor man's fight." Faust, however, brings attention to the fear that white women experienced being left alone to manage large slave populations without a man's help. Women feared murder and uprisings from a slave population that was growing increasingly rebellious. The priority ultimately given to equitably treating draft-age white men and the burden of managing slaves led to a decline in women's support for the slave system and for the Confederacy, she argues.

In addition to slave management, Faust explores other ways in which the war caused elite white women to step into traditional male roles. From the very beginning, secession and the war led to much greater involvement by women in the public sphere. Although politics had been considered the province of men, secession was a topic that no one could stop discussing-women included. The banding together of women to support the war effort also proved a new experience for southern women. Unlike their northern sisters, southern women typically had not been involved in social organizations before the war.

Faust's book includes a fascinating discussion about attitudes toward the refugee experience. In particular, she notes that becoming a refugee was the civilian equivalent of buying a substitute for the draft. A refugee, the term implied, had the money and connections to make a planned departure from home-often to protect property. In support of this view, she cites the diary of Mary Lee of Winchester, who disdained the term refugee in favor of "displaced person" to describe those fleeing with little in the face of the enemy.

"Mothers of Invention" contains one of the most interesting analyses of the hoop skirt that I have seen. Faust notes that the trend for full skirts, ultimately supported by hoops, coincided with the Victorian ideals of domesticity and women's separate sphere. The caged crinoline or hoop offered women a portable enclosed private space and the wide skirts symbolized a circle in which women were protected. In an era where upper-class women's sexuality was repressed, the style also hid and reformed female anatomy. The conspicuous consumption of fabric and the difficulty performing physical labor in these skirts made a class statement as well.

"Mothers of Invention" provides a good overview of the different ways that the war affected southern women's lives, including changes within the household, relations between husbands and wives, paid employment outside the home, the likelihood that young women would remain single due to the deaths of so many young men, religious views on the war, increased educational opportunities for women, dealing with Yankee men, etc. Her accessible writing style and use of interesting quotes and numerous pictures make this a relatively quick read. The book is well-organized with subheadings that make locating important points quite easy.

Book Description

Book 1 in the Refiner's Fire series. The daughter of a wealthy slave-holding family from Richmond, Virginia, Caroline Fletcher is raised in a culture that believes slavery is God-ordained and biblically acceptable. But upon awakening to the cruelty and injustice it encompasses, Caroline's eyes are opened for the first time to the men and women who have cared tirelessly for her. Her journey of maturity and faith will draw her into the abolitionist movement, where she is confronted with the risks and sacrifices her beliefs entail.

Customer Reviews:

An amazing historical novel!.......2006-09-20

I read this book in 2 days and couldn't put it down last night until I finished it at 2am. The author gave great details on the war and the characters that you feel like you're part of the story. I also like how the character, Caroline Fletcher, stood up for what she believed and still fought to save her family, even though they didn't agreed what she believed in. I also liked how the author compared the civil war to Bible times. It' never occurred to me how similar the war is to the Egyptian times. Overall, this is a great book that can't be put down without finishing it. I'm looking forward to reading more of Lynn Austin's books.

One of the best Christian Fiction books out there.......2006-06-27

I picked this book up after reading another Lynn Austin book, Hidden Places. I was engrossed from the first page. I read it in one day. The characters were great, especially the main character. It challenged my views of the Civil War and slavery. It was excellent. The other two in the series are wonderful as well. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

Excellent Historical Civil War Fiction.......2006-06-24

Wow, what an amazing book. This was about a woman with convictions who dared to risk everything for them. By the world's standards she had it all~ beauty, wealth, intelligence, family with connections, and a gorgeous, rich, & charming finance. She is willing to forsake all to protect and free the slaves she loves.

This is a story about trust and faith in God and how Caroline develops from a shy, insecure young girl into a strong, courageous woman. However, Caroline's deceitful acts did not sit well with me. God's character is not consistent with deception. He is a big enough God to allow the North to win the war without willing someone to do deceitful acts. Caroline really put her father, cousins, finance and others in great danger by doing what she did. The author did not clarify whether Caroline's actions were right or wrong. It is for the reader to decide.

I really liked how the author painted a picture of slavery, people's attitudes towards slaves, and their interactions with them. The historical research involved was excellent. The reader gains a sense of what living in Richmond, the Confederate's capitol, must have been like before, during and briefly after the war.

Another excellent civil war fiction I strongly recommend is a book called "The Velvet Shadow" 3rd in "The Heirs of Cahira O'Connor" series by Angela Elwell Hunt.

Admirable Christian Fiction.......2005-03-01

Caroline Fletcher is a Southerner and she hates slavery. What should she do?

Lynn Austin's novel, "Candle in the Darkness," is a story about love, forgiveness, and doing the right thing. A terrible choice hangs in the balance for one woman: Should she stand up for what she believes in and lose the trust of her family and fiance, or should she let her convictions go and live "happily ever after?"

This book was fairly captivating. I read it in a day, because it is one of those books that you can't put down even if you don't really like it. The characters are believable, and the plot is strong. I can truthfully say I enjoyed it and that Lynn Austin knows how to write.

The only flaw that I saw in this story was something that I see in many Christian fiction books set during the Civil War: Why is it that all these Chrstian authors, if they want to make such a point agains the evils of slavery during that time, choose to tell their story from a Southern perspective? It is slightly annoying that Caroline Fletcher is not an authentic Southerner; why couldn't Lynn Austin just tell her story from a Northern perspective if she wanted a strongly anti-slavery character? I can understand the point she tried to make, but the more I study the Civil War, the more I wish that I could have enjoyed Caroline as the Southerner she should have been. It was practically traitorous that she betrayed her family and could've caused her fiance's death. I am most definitely NOT saying that I would have prefered a character like Scarlett O'Hara, but still, this was the one weak spot in the book.

Still, this book is great for anyone interested in the Civil War. Mildly recommended.

I learned a lot about my self and those around me..........2004-12-02

I really enjoy Christian fiction books and I always have a hard time choosing the right one. For some reason this book really stood out at the book store and I bought it without realizing what the book was fully about. It is such a strong book about going after what you truly believe in and standing up for what is right! After I finished it I wanted to read more and more about Caroline and I also found myself researching more about the Civil War. It is a hard book to put down! One of my good friends borrowed it & fell in love with it immediately! :0)

Mary's World: Love, War, and Family Ties in Nineteenth-century Charleston

Average customer rating:

touching, fascinating, personal view of the Antebellum South
A family of slaveowners.
Mary's World: A Review
A MUST READ
Great Book!

Mary's World: Love, War, and Family Ties in Nineteenth-century Charleston
Richard N. Cote
Manufacturer: Corinthian Books, an imprint of The Côté Literary Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 1929175388

Book Description

In this 8-CD audio edition (playing time: about 11 hours), the voices of Dr. Walter Edgar and Anita Rosenberg bring to life the members of the William Bull Pringle family of Charleston, South Carolina during the Civil War era.

Born to affluence and opportunity in the South's Golden Age, Mary Motte Alston Pringle (1803-1884) represented the epitome of Southern white womanhood. Her husband was a wealthy rice planter who owned four plantations and 337 slaves. Her thirteen children included two Harvard scholars, seven world travelers, a U.S. Navy war hero, six Confederate soldiers, one possible Union collaborator, a Confederate firebrand trapped in the North, an expatriate bon vivant in France, and two California pioneers. Mary's World illuminates in lavish detail the world and psyche of this wealthy, well-educated, well-intentioned woman and her family from the antebellum South.

During the Civil War, Mary and her husband, William, stood helpless as two sons were killed, another was driven insane, their slaves were freed, and the world as they knew it was swept away by a hurricane of social change. In her own words, Mary tells us about the joys, sorrows, frustrations, and terrors she and her family faced in nineteenth-century Charleston. This intimate, visceral biography was drawn directly from over 2,500 pages of Mary's handwritten letters, journals and diaries, none of which, she could have imagined, would ever be read by strangers. Therein lies their power.

Readers also learn about the vastly different lifestyles, food, clothing, and experiences of their slaves. Mary's World also pays special attention to Cretia Stewart, Mary's favorite servant, Cretia's husband, Scipio, and their free descendants, some of whom worked for Mary's grandchildren well into the twentieth century. How Mary, William, their children, and slaves lived before the Civil War, clung desperately to life in the eye of the maelstrom, and coped - or failed to cope -- with its bewildering aftermath is the story of this book. The letters and images they left behind offer priceless insights into the anguished roots of Southern social history.

Customer Reviews:

touching, fascinating, personal view of the Antebellum South.......2006-08-04

Mary's World helped me to understand life in the Antebellum South and the culture that thrived on slavery. But it also showed the North's response to winning the Civil War, which was anything but forgiving. It was a thrill to see the Miles Brewton House and the St. Michael's Cemetary on my recent visit to Charleston, and to feel the connection with the Mottes, Alstons, and Pringles.

A family of slaveowners........2005-04-23

The book is well written and entertaining. The story was nicely presented around the letters of Mary Pringle. All the similar names of the characters make it a little confusing. A nice reference chart showing the relationship of the characters should be included at the beginning of the book. Did the author hide some things to make the family look better? I wonder. It's hard for a Northerner to muster up a lot of sympathy for this family of slave owners. Perhaps Julius, who likely became a Unionist, was the real hero of the family. It's ironic that the South nearly destroyed our country in the 1860's, but is saving it today.