New Historical Novel from 7-Time Christy Award Winner!
In the aftermath of the Civil War, Josephine Weatherly and her mother, Eugenia, struggle to pick up the pieces of their lives when they return to their Virginia plantation. But the bitter realities of life after the war cannot be denied: their home and land are but shells of their previous grandeur; death has claimed her father and brother; and her remaining brother, Daniel, has returned home bitter and broken. The privileged childhood Josephine enjoyed now seems like a long-ago dream. And the God who failed to answer any of her prayers during the war is lost to her as well.
Josephine soon realizes that life is now a matter of daily survival–and recognizes that Lizzie, as one of the few remaining servants, is the one she must rely on to teach her all she needs to know. Josephine’s mother, too, vows to rebuild White Oak…but a bitter hatred fuels her.
With skill and emotion, Lynn Austin brings to life the difficult years of the Reconstruction era by interweaving the stories of three women–daughter, mother, and freed slave–in a riveting tale.
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Sexual Content - 1/5
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Violence - 2/5
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Language - 0/5
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Drugs and Alcohol - 0/5
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Summary
Overall This is a powerful novel that deals with the raw emotions of a Virginian community in the aftermath of the Civil War. Ms. Austin gives strong dimension to her characters. Josephine struggles with her belief in God. In her eyes, He has let her down. He hasn't heard her prayers, or if He did, He chose not to answer them. Death and destruction is all that Jo got for her trouble of trusting God and praying. She had been a good girl. Respected and obeyed her parents. Went to church. Did good. Why,
then, did God not answer her prayers? Her struggle spans most of the novel. It is a struggle to which many can relate, at least in part. Other characters struggle with trying to hold onto the way things were in the pastto the point of their own further demise. Hatred and bitterness foment even more destruction, hatred and bitterness. Ms. Austin did a masterful job of stirring the empathy of her readers for both the negroes and the plantation owners of the South. The plot dealt with the foolishness of clinging to the past without regard for the necessity to change and live with the present circumstances. The author truly did an amazing job of presenting a realistic look at the struggles of this particular time period in the South. While this story ended well, one can see how similar struggles in the South may not have ended so well.