Widow of Gettysburg

Widow of Gettysburg
(Heroines Behind the Lines)
Jocelyn Green
(Moody/River North)
ISBN: 978-0802405777
April 2013/384 pages/$14.99
For all who have suffered great loss of heart, home, health or family; true home and genuine lasting love can be found.

When a horrific battle rips through Gettysburg, the farm of Union widow Liberty Holloway is disfigured into a Confederate field hospital, bringing her face to face with unspeakable suffering-and a Confederate scout who awakens her long dormant heart.

But when the scout doesn't die she discovers he isn't who he claims to be .

While Liberty's future crumbles as her home is destroyed, the past comes rushing back to Bella, a former slave and Liberty's hired help, when she finds herself surrounded by Southern soldiers, one of whom knows the secret that would place Liberty in danger if revealed.

In the wake of shattered homes and bodies, Liberty and Bella struggle to pick up the pieces the battle has left behind. Will Liberty be defined by the tragedy in her life, or will she find a way to triumph over it?

Inspired by first-person accounts from women who lived in Gettysburg during the battle and its aftermath, Widow of Gettysburg is the Book 2 in the Heroines Behind the Lines series. These books do not need to be read in succession. For more information & resources about the Heroines Behind the Lines series, visit www.heroinesbehindthelines.com.

Read an excerpt.

Widow of Gettysburg from River North Fiction on Vimeo.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jocelyn Green is an award-winning author, freelance writer and editor. A former military wife, she authored, along with contributing writers, Faith Deployed: Daily Encouragement for Military Wives (Moody 2008) and Faith Deployed . . . Again: More Daily Encouragement for Military Wives (Moody 2011). Jocelyn is also co-author for Battlefields & Blessings: Stories of Faith and Courage from the War in Iraq & Afghanistan (AMG Publishers 2009), which won the Gold Medal from Military Writers Society of America in 2010. Her first novel, Wedded to War was nominated for two Christy Awards. She maintains her own award-winning Web site for military wives at www.faithdeployed.com. She holds a B.A. in English from Taylor University, and is an active member of the Evangelical Press Association, the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association and the Christian Authors Network. She and her husband have two children and reside in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

MY THOUGHTS

I met Jocelyn Green last year at ICRS and absolutely loved her first novel, Wedded to War (that interview and review are here), which was nominated for two Christy Awards. It was with eager anticipation that I opened Widow of Gettysburg and I must say it exceeded my expectations. Drawing from journals and writings of women who lived through the Civil War, an era where genteel ladies were generally shielded from anything that might upset their sensibilities, Green shows how the reality of the war landed on the doorstep of women such as Liberty Holloway as her home was commandeered for a field hospital and she found herself being tested in ways beyond her imagination. Everything she thought she believed about herself and those around her, including the despicable Rebel soldiers is upended and challenged. The physical, mental, and emotional toll of the war-and the interpersonal tensions that arose and filled the air as thickly as the stench of decaying bodies-are palpable, and Green is brutally honest in her portrayal without being sensationally graphic. If it were simply a grim recounting of the horror of war, it would be a depressive read. However, Green has deftly woven in a thread of faith and hope that points the reader to God's grace. While I was deeply immersed in the story, at times I made myself pause simply to reread a particularly striking scene. Jocelyn Green is an expert wordsmith and her descriptive prose brings the story to life. Although this novel is classified as fiction, it contains much truth within its pages. This book should be required reading for high school history classes or anyone who studies this horrific time in our nation's history. A full bibliography is included at the end of the novel, as is a word from Jocelyn, who identifies what is fact and what is fiction. Don't miss this important novel that shows the role so many women had in binding our country back together.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a copy of this book from Jocelyn Green. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”