HEARTS DIVIDED - Joanne Sundell
The Quaker and the Confederate, Book One
Five Star
ISBN: 978-1-59414-882-8
May 2010
Historical Fiction
Virginia during the Civil War
The American Civil War caused any number of problems, besides battle, to the citizens of Virginia. Parts of the state were anti-slavery, other parts, die-hard Confederates, and it’s this conflict that is the backbone of this novel.
Willa and Surry have grown up near each other, but they might as well be miles apart. Willa’s family owns a small farm, and Surry is the daughter of slaves at a large plantation nearby. They become friends as children, and that friendship will survive and be tested as war clouds form over their homeland. Also nearby is Levi Clement, a young Quaker who is steadfast in his belief of non-violence and that slavery is evil. He is betrothed to Comfort Clarke, but as war erupts in his state, the life he had planned is quickly changing.
Willa has learned that despite her hatred of slavery, defending Virginia is more important. When her brothers march off to war, she runs away shortly afterwards and disguises herself as a boy to join the Confederate Army. Her experiences are not what she expected, but she will not let the fact that she is a woman stop her from protecting her beliefs. Meanwhile, Surry and her siblings are left to try and escape the tyranny and attempt to use the Underground Railroad to move north to freedom. All the while each young woman prays for the safety of the other.
Levi’s beliefs are stretched to the limit as war escalates and the southern army takes over his father’s mill, and soon the very church where they worship. When he spies a young soldier at the church, he’s sure it is a woman, but what would a woman be doing at war?
HEARTS DIVIDED, The Quaker and the Confederate, is the first book in a two part Civil War series. Well researched and with interesting characters, this is a book that will be enjoyed by all who are interested in this sad part of our country’s history.
Jani Brooks
Romance Reviews Today
Library Journal Review. (April 15, 2010)
This title will publish in May 2010
(Hearts Persuaded (book two) to publish: September 2010, 9781594148835)
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Sundell, Joanne. Hearts Divided. Five Star: Gale Cengage. (The Quaker and the Confederate). May 2010. c.288p. ISBN 978-1-59414-882-8. $25.95. Historical
Willa Mae Tyler and Surry Lion have been secret friends since they were seven-secret because it was pre-Civil War Virginia, and Willa is white and Surry is a black slave. But as the war begins and Surry is brutalized by a vicious overseer, the girls go their separate ways-Surry to freedom in the North and Willa into the Confederate Army disguised as a boy. Then Willa meets Quaker Levi Clement, pacifist and mill owner, and all their lives will never be the same. VERDICT Compelling characters and descriptive historical detail draw readers into this soul-wrenching drama, leaving them looking forward to the next installment in "The Quaker and the Confederate" duet, with Hearts Persuaded coming in September. Sundell (Meggie's Remains) divides her time between Colorado and California.