Based on the real history of Carnton, an antebellum home that served as a Confederate hospital, Colors of Truth follows the journey of an Irish immigrant arriving in a country where her kind isn’t wanted, and of a former Federal soldier returning to the scene of a battle that almost destroyed him.
In 1866 Catriona O’Toole arrives in the town of Franklin, Tennessee, searching for her younger brother, Ryan, who, according to his last letter, was headed for Franklin only days before the catastrophic Battle of Franklin. Ryan’s last note contained a stack of cash—enough money to bring his entire family across the ocean from Ireland. But after disease and illness tear through County Antrim and the O’Toole family, only Catriona and her seven-year old sister Nora are left to make the journey.
Wade Cunningham, one of ten operatives in the newly formed United States Secret Service Agency, is on the hunt for counterfeiters. A tip leads him to Franklin and to Carnton, the home of wealthy Tennessean John McGavock. The recent murder of a fellow agent mandates that Wade keep his true identity hidden, as well as his past service in the Federal Army. But when he receives a note bearing only the name of the deceased agent, he realizes someone in town already knows who he really is.
As evidence in the case mounts, it eventually points to Catriona, but Wade is slow to want to believe it. Because his heart is swiftly becoming hers. However, Catriona’s sole focus is to find her brother and to provide a home and safety for her sister. In doing that, she somehow finds herself part of a burial committee for the over two thousand Confederate soldiers who were hastily buried in a field following the Battle of Franklin—and her deepest fear is that Ryan’s body is among those shallow graves.
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Sexual Content - 1/5
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Violence - 1/5
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Language - 0/5
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Drugs and Alcohol - 0/5
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Summary
From: Rebecca Maney
Book Title: Colors of Truth
Book Author: Tamera Alexander
What do you like about this book:
4.5 stars
"Before she left Ireland, she'd thought she understood what it meant to be alone. To be left behind. But she hadn't. Until now."
Travelling all the way to Franklin, Tennessee from the Irish countryside with a "wee corker" of a seven year old sister and some money set aside for new beginnings, Catriona O'Toole is searching for two things; her twin brother, Ryan, conscripted into the Confederate Army upon arrival to America, and concrete answers to a generational land dispute between the O'Tooles and the McGavocks. One question is answered rather quickly, comparatively speaking, but the other unknown fact forces Catriona and her sister Nora to face rather troubling circumstances, along with a slew of inaccurate accusations, and the charming smile of the newly acquired Carnton overseer, a Mister Wade Cunningham. . . who seems to show up everywhere . . . that she is.
Secret Service Agent Wade Cunningham is walking a fine line; posing as a former Confederate soldier, which he most definitely was not, he applies for an advertised position at the famed Carnton property owned by Mister John McGavock; Wade's sources have led him to believe that a notorious counterfeiting ring is operating in the vicinity. Ingratiating himself with one of the most respected members of the Franklin community seemed like a really good idea, but having his head turned by not one, but two red headed Irish females, was not anywhere in the plan. Especially when he is certain that Catriona O'Toole is up to her pretty eyeballs in secrets, but can he blame her? So is he.
One might be tempted to conclude that Catriona and Wade's journey to wholeness is fraught with far too many insurmountable obstacles, for even Wade muses, "How could someone who inflicted so deep a wound on your heart still manage to possess a piece of it?". But the hand of the Almighty God is at work, using truth as a balm rather than a battering ram. Leave it to Tempy to offer Catriona these words of sage wisdom, "Way I figure it, one way or the other, give it enough time, and the truth always has its say", just as the final Word promises us that "the truth will set us free".
Enjoy this lovely story!