Angels Watching Over Me

Review of Angels Watching Over Me by Michael Phillips

Overview from www.barnesandnoble.com: Book 1 of SHENANDOAH SISTERS. Two young Southern girls, one the daughter of a plantation owner and one the daughter of a slave, barely survive the onset of the Civil War and the loss of both their families. When these tragic circumstances bring them together, they join forces to discover if they can make a life for themselves. As their preconceptions give way to experience, they gradually learn to value their contrasting and complementing strengths and skills as they face the formidable task of keeping body and soul together in the aftermath of this devastating war. But is it possible the Lord they have come to know has something bigger in mind for the plantation than either of them can imagine?

My Review:

The book for this week’s review is about two strong women characters. Surprisingly though, it was written by a man.

The story is told through the eyes of Mayme otherwise known as Mary Jane, for the most part. It begins with her and then leads into Katie’s story. Though Katie’s tale is in the third person as though it is Mary Jane’s retelling of her story.

Both girls lived in North Carolina near the end of the Civil War and both are in their late teens though I believe Mayme was older by a year. They both find themselves the only ones left alive at their respective family homes after a marauding party of Confederate soldiers comes through that part of North Carolina, killing everyone else.

They latch on to each other for survival though perhaps Mayme is by far the more experienced in the ways of the world and thus takes charge, at least at first. She does most of the chores and other work but more and more Katie asks Mayme to teach her things. She begins to take a more active role.

The first order of business is to convince outsiders that nothing is wrong and that her mother is still alive and well. If anyone were to find out that she and Mayme were alone together, it would mean serious trouble for both of them but especially Mayme who has been sleeping in a white man’s bed.

I have to admit that Katie seemed a little weak to me at first but she grew on me even as her character grows and becomes stronger on the inside. She becomes strong enough not only to understand the way things really are but to do something about it and help another human being or two along the way.

It is a beautiful story. I love the way these two rely on each other and learn to trust in God in the process. They become like sisters and the way they love each other transcends the racial and cultural barriers placed upon them by the time period.

I don’t know how they will survive together but even if they don’t, at least they will have known that there must be a better way than to hate. It may sound trite but it’s a great story and not your typical Civil War Era fare. I highly recommend it.

The Spymistress

Review of The Spymistress by Jennifer Chiaverini


Overview from www.barnesandnoble.com: Born to slave-holding aristocracy in Richmond, Virginia, and educated by Northern Quakers, Elizabeth Van Lew was a paradox of her time. When her native state seceded in April 1861, Van Lew’s convictions compelled her to defy the new Confederate regime. Pledging her loyalty to the Lincoln White House, her courage would never waver, even as her wartime actions threatened not only her reputation, but also her life.

Van Lew’s skills in gathering military intelligence were unparalleled. She helped to construct the Richmond Underground and orchestrated escapes from the infamous Confederate Libby Prison under the guise of humanitarian aid. Her spy ring’s reach was vast, from clerks in the Confederate War and Navy Departments to the very home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

Although Van Lew was inducted posthumously into the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame, the astonishing scope of her achievements has never been widely known. In Chiaverini’s riveting tale of high-stakes espionage, a great heroine of the Civil War finally gets her due.

My Review:

This week’s story is actually based on a true story according to information found inside the book. The protagonist is one Elizabeth Van Lew, an erstwhile Union sympathizer living in Richmond as the state of Virginia sides with the Confederacy and makes Richmond its capital.

Cut off from the country that she loves Lizzie is determined to do what she can to help. It is not long before she gets her chance to prove her loyalty. A group of Union prisoners, some of them civilians, captured during battle are kept in the most deplorable conditions. Lizzie used flattery and home-cooked food to worm her way into the Confederate prison guard’s confidence so that she can tend to their needs at her own expense.

She uses that opportunity to smuggle out messages from the men to their Union counterparts north of the Mason Dixon line. As her usefulness to the Union grows, so does the danger to herself and her family. She must find a way to appear to be in favor of the Confederacy in order to avoid jeopardizing her undercover activities. After all, her life, as well as her mother’s, could be on the line at any moment.

Our heroine is one of my favorite things about this book. She is kind and circumspect as well as courageous. I can’t imagine what it would be like to suddenly find yourself ostensibly living in a new country without having the chance to leave peacefully and join up with the country that you really consider to be your own. Yet Lizzie handles it with grace even when she is threatened by some Confederates who don’t like her politics or her money.

The story of how she not only survives the war but manages also to secretly help the U.S. government is amazing. By the time the Union troops arrive in Richmond, she is recognized as the true hero that she is and is even given a special appointment by the President Grant.

I can’t name anything that I didn’t really like about this story. There was not any bad language, or a lot of sex and only mild war violence. And it was truly a captivating story. I suppose the only reason a potential reader might not like it was if he or she didn’t like Civil War stories or he or she prefers the type of stories that I mentioned earlier.

Have you read this book or any other Jennifer Chiaverini’s books? What did you think?

Little Women

       


Review of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott


Overview from www.barnesandnoble.com: Generations of readers young and old, male and female, have fallen in love with the March sisters of Louisa May Alcott’s most popular and enduring novel, Little Women. Here are talented tomboy and author-to-be Jo, tragically frail Beth, beautiful Meg, and romantic, spoiled Amy, united in their devotion to each other and their struggles to survive in New England during the Civil War.

It is no secret that Alcott based Little Women on her own early life. While her father, the freethinking reformer and abolitionist Bronson Alcott, hobnobbed with such eminent male authors as Emerson, Thoreau, and Hawthorne, Louisa supported herself and her sisters with “woman’s work,” including sewing, doing laundry, and acting as a domestic servant. But she soon discovered she could make more money writing. Little Women brought her lasting fame and fortune, and far from being the “girl’s book” her publisher requested, it explores such timeless themes as love and death, war and peace, the conflict between personal ambition and family responsibilities, and the clash of cultures between Europe and America.

My Review:

Revisiting the Louisa May Alcott classic this week was somewhat of an emotional experience. Tackling this story, I thought, would be easy.

After all, it has all the characteristics of a Hallmark channel movie for those who remember those. A nice, cutesy little story about four girls growing up with limited means. The forward of the Barnes & Noble version of this classic tells how the novel was something of a mirror of the author’s own life and experiences.

Jo is basically Alcott, we are told. I knew this already but what I didn’t know much about was the involvement of Alcott’s father, Amos Bronson, in the Transcendentalist movement. Ralph Waldo Emerson was a close family friend who Bronson often depended on. Alcott’s father was also one of the residents of  “Fruitlands” in Harvard, Massachusetts, where the Transcendentalists conduct their first experiment in a social utopia. (And fail.)

So the saga of the March sisters is not just about the “little women” but also has some underlying messages in it that the author, for the most part, tries not make too heavy-handed. However, in many cases she fails. She even admits it at one point when she digresses into a sermonette on how old maids ought to be treated and then says: “Jo must have fallen asleep (as I dare say my reader has during this little homily).”

Back to the plot now, I mentioned Jo who is the writing sister and based on Alcott herself but we also have some other great characters. The oldest March sister is Meg who seems to be easy-going while hoping to be somewhat fashionable. Jo is second, followed by Beth, whose goal in life is simply to take care of the rest of the family as well as make life easier. The only selfish thing she asks for is time alone with her piano and music. While Amy starts off as the spoiled one who later hopes to bag wealthy husband in order to help others.

The girls grow up mostly on their own with the guidance of Marmi, their mother, and Hannah, the housemaid. That is until their neighbors Laurie and his irritable grandfather, Mr. Laurence, intervene. And then we also have the persnickety Aunt March who is constantly telling the girls and their mother how things should be done but to no avail since no one really listens to her.

Later Papa survives the Civil War to come home to his “little women” but is worse for the wear. Nevertheless trouble still stalks them in their personal lives as well as the issues of the time such as racism and the attitude of the wealthier set towards poverty.

Even though it seemed sadder to me this time that the last I really enjoyed the story. It was impossible for me not to fall in love with the girls all over again and feel their pains as my own even when I didn’t agree with them. Jo fancies herself a boy but finds that she is after all, a woman. The others become better women and in the end make the lives of those around them better for having known them. And that was the best thing about this story.