This story is based on a real woman, Carrie McGavock, whose house was commandeered by a Union general for use as a military hospital after a battle in Franklin Tennessee during the Civil War.
In the fictional storyline in the book, Carrie must overcome her devastating grief over the prior death of three of her children to help care for the wounded soldiers filling her home
Even though she is married, she falls in love with one of the injured soldiers recuperating there.
Lot's of drama takes place.
Then back to the true part of the tale. Years after the war Mrs McGavock and her husband, with some help, moved an entire cemetery of Civil War dead on to their own property after the owner of the burial ground wanted the land back for planting cotton. The McGavoks kept the records and maintained the cemetery until their own deaths.
I am sorry to have to tell you that the author did a terrible job of writing this book. I think he might have clearly imagined the scenes and story in his mind but just wasn't skilled getting in it on paper.
The characters are shallow with unexplained motives, the dialog is not believable, the battle scenes are unnecessarily gory, and I really don't like the fact that he wrote a fictional story that is unflattering to a real woman who was a heroine and a pillar of strength.
I almost gave up on it several times but kept plodding through to the end.
The best part of this book is a small section in the back that tells the true story about the real Carrie McGavock and Carnton Plantation.
Carnton Plantation is still standing and has been restored and open for tours. I'd like to visit there now that I know the story. Battle reenactments are held there as well.
Click for their website: http://www.battleoffranklintrust.org/carnton_history.htm
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