Wednesday, December 12, 2007 12:22 AM CST
Book Reviews: Civil War fiction
By JUANITA SHERWOOD
Two recently issued historical fiction books about the Civil War would appeal to any reader who enjoys reading about that time period.
‘Fire Bell in the Night’
By Geoffrey S. Edwards
“Fire Bell in the Night” by Geoffrey S. Edwards was one of two books published as a result of the First Chapters competition sponsored by the Web site Gather.com in January ’07. The book is set in Charleston, S.C., in 1850. It explores the growing tension between North and South in the decade before war erupted.
A young newspaper reporter out to prove himself, John Sharp, from The New York Tribune, is sent to cover political issues in the town after the seasoned reporter from the paper is killed in a tragic accident. Sharp is obviously a Yankee and has difficulty fitting in; he is viewed with suspicion, even considered a possible spy, by residents of Charleston.
Another reporter, Owen Conway, of the National Police Gazette, also from New York, is boarding in the same house. The two befriend each other and work together to find out what is newsworthy in Charleston.
Political events of the time, such as the passage and enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Laws, become an important part of the story. Darcy Calhoun, a “dull” Southern man who lives alone in a forested area, is arrested and tried for aiding an escaped slave.
Application of the new law becomes important to Sharp as he befriends Calhoun and reports on the progress of the trial to his Northern readers. A turning point to friction between North and South is the death of President Zachary Taylor, a former military man feared in the South, and ascension to the presidency by Millard Fillmore, considered more moderate by Southerners.
The book is a good way to step back into a time when people lived much differently than today, and to see how regional suspicion and distrust played a part in the differences that led to the Civil War.
‘The Road from Chapel Hill’
By Joanna Catherine Scott
This book also is a historical fiction book about the Civil War. It explores the culture, especially negative ones, of the South before the war, as well as the effects events during the war had on ordinary Southerners.
The main character is Eugenia Mae Spotswood, formerly a girl of means who has been reduced to living in poverty because her father lost the family fortune. Eugenie and her father live and work at a gold mine site in North Carolina. Her work is a daily drudgery, and her father struggles to better their circumstances, but has little success.
Eugenie, still remembering her former life, makes some decisions that cause difficulty for the family. Eventually, she leaves the mining community, falls into even more hard luck, but then is rescued by Dr. Kinney and taken in by Mrs. Baker. She spends most of the war working in the business Mrs. Baker has secretly set for herself; if caught, all would be tried and convicted as traitors to the cause.
Eugenie meets, befriends and assists Clyde Brickett, who, as a young man before the war, had a goal of becoming a patroller, one who chased and returned run-away slaves.
Another important character is Tom, a slave bought by Eugenie’s father when they still lived in the mining community. An unexpected discovery Eugenie makes about herself near the end after the war will play an important role in her future.
The book is a good one for illustrating the struggles of life during the Civil War period. It also shows how important thinking for one’s self can be and that courage in the midst of trial is never outdated.
Sherwood is a retired reading teacher.
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