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Firefly
Grace Kieler had a comfortable life in Charleston until the outbreak of the Civil War. After losing everyone but her sister and surviving the Great Fire of 1861. Grace found herself in the uniform of her dead Confederate brother, Henry, her sister donning the gray of their little brother, Will. Both fought at Antietam but only one survived . . . After the war Grace, still living her life as Henry, tries to find work during spring planting near Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Henry finds himself on a farm owned by a blind widow, Virginia Klaising. As Henry's secret becomes harder to conceal the two realize they have something precious - an unspoken candor that reveals the soul.
452 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2004
9 people are currently reading
467 people want to read
About the author
Whitney Hamilton
4 books7 followers Whitney Hamilton grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana and Birmingham, Alabama. She attended Birmingham Southern College earning a BFA in Painting and Pratt Insititute as a fine arts MFA candidate. After that she attended the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. She has written numerous plays and screenplays. “My Brother’s War” premiered at the Methodfest Film Festival 2005 and was nominated for best low- budget indie and for best actress Whitney Hamilton. It is loosely based on the first part of “Firefly”. She is currently working on a sequel, UNION. www.union-movie.com She resides in Brooklyn, New York.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
October 14, 2014
This book was an intense, often heartbreaking, sometimes beautiful, exquisite read. It mesmerized me from the very beginning, starting out in the gunsmoke of a desperate battle. Every page turned drew me deeper into the pain, the heartache, the loss of hope and destruction that engulfs these characters again and again. The thread of hope and possibility that runs through each awful calamity kept me reading, kept me reaching with Henry/Grace and Virginia for that moment of relief, for the promise of safety.
When Henry and Virginia finally meet I think I must have already been overwhelmed to the point of tears at least three times - most notably when something truly tragic happens to Virginia that left me stunned. She was ravaged of all hope, completely lost, but then Henry stumbles onto her land and that faint, almost translucent glimmer of hope flickers to life once again.
The book was written with intensity in some parts, but then flitted to a subtlety that made me read each word slowly, so I could take it in and feel these moments, these wonderful characters as they fought for life and love on the battlefields, against those that wish to oppress them, amidst the poignant words and paragraphs that pulled me so deeply into their world. Virginia and Henry/Grace were magnificently written - full, profound, lost, found, flawed and perfect. I could have read about them for hours more, days more, hell even weeks more.
I'm gushing and I know it, and I'm sure the novel is not perfect (certainly some people may just not find themselves as moved by the book) but for me it was a book I will not forget. It burned a hole in my brain somewhere, took a seat in the charred hollow, and will haunt me forever. Much like The Color Purple when I first read that, and like Fried Green Tomatoes when that also took me on a rollercoaster of life, death, love and hardship. This book surprised me and surpassed any expectations I might have begun with when I downloaded it.
This isn't your average 'lesfic' offering; it's not really lesfic at all to be fair as it encompasses so much more, it goes deeper than that. It's a tough ride, a battle. It drags you into a world and a time where life was very different and it doesn't sway from that or present easy options to initialize romance. There is romance - romance so perfectly and delicately done I felt lifted by those moments - but it's clawing its way out from under layers of oppression, from the thickness of grief and pain. This is no romp-a-thon; this is two women (two people) who find each other in the midst of devastation. The scenes between them often made me stop to catch my breath; not due to the usual sexual gymnastics in 'lesfic', but due to the things not done, not said, but deeply felt by both women.
The book blew me away, it devastated me at times but left my heart vibrating with hope, and I enjoyed every moment. I was truly captivated and enchanted by it.
When Henry and Virginia finally meet I think I must have already been overwhelmed to the point of tears at least three times - most notably when something truly tragic happens to Virginia that left me stunned. She was ravaged of all hope, completely lost, but then Henry stumbles onto her land and that faint, almost translucent glimmer of hope flickers to life once again.
The book was written with intensity in some parts, but then flitted to a subtlety that made me read each word slowly, so I could take it in and feel these moments, these wonderful characters as they fought for life and love on the battlefields, against those that wish to oppress them, amidst the poignant words and paragraphs that pulled me so deeply into their world. Virginia and Henry/Grace were magnificently written - full, profound, lost, found, flawed and perfect. I could have read about them for hours more, days more, hell even weeks more.
I'm gushing and I know it, and I'm sure the novel is not perfect (certainly some people may just not find themselves as moved by the book) but for me it was a book I will not forget. It burned a hole in my brain somewhere, took a seat in the charred hollow, and will haunt me forever. Much like The Color Purple when I first read that, and like Fried Green Tomatoes when that also took me on a rollercoaster of life, death, love and hardship. This book surprised me and surpassed any expectations I might have begun with when I downloaded it.
This isn't your average 'lesfic' offering; it's not really lesfic at all to be fair as it encompasses so much more, it goes deeper than that. It's a tough ride, a battle. It drags you into a world and a time where life was very different and it doesn't sway from that or present easy options to initialize romance. There is romance - romance so perfectly and delicately done I felt lifted by those moments - but it's clawing its way out from under layers of oppression, from the thickness of grief and pain. This is no romp-a-thon; this is two women (two people) who find each other in the midst of devastation. The scenes between them often made me stop to catch my breath; not due to the usual sexual gymnastics in 'lesfic', but due to the things not done, not said, but deeply felt by both women.
The book blew me away, it devastated me at times but left my heart vibrating with hope, and I enjoyed every moment. I was truly captivated and enchanted by it.
August 11, 2016
It seems that everyone who reviews this book pulls a different thing out of the text that struck them; for some people, that was a connection with the humanity of the characters; for others, there was a craving for more focus on the relationships available. Certainly the book held a certain yerning for honesty that few other lesbian novels could match; an elegant, dappled painting of the times and the people moving within them.
Be advised that my poor rating was given out of anger. Alas; academics are a tough crowd to please when writing historical fiction, and for me this novel's little inaccuracies (and some infuriatingly serious ones) kept jolting me out of enjoyment. If you're not in flagrante delicto with Clio, this probably won't impact you much, but for especially historians - well. You're in for a fun ride - "State's Rights", no mention of Lincoln's election, hardly any black people, fundamental tactical and doctrinal misunderstandings, inaccurate equipment/supply, silence about home-problems (like the food riots), etc. The book does try, but it reads like someone read a Southern Apologist wiki page and then jammed some key battles into the narrative and called it good. Everything was just fractionally wrong (they're called minié balls god-fucking-damnit, I just can't take "mini balls" anymore!)
But honestly and truly, no matter how well written, this book is going to anger a lot of people - for good and decent reasons. Any Civil War novel with only a single black person - and that one an "Uncle Tom" kind attached to her caring white family - that sort of book deserves our complete condemnation. Its silence is dishonest. The closest this book gets is Grace/Henry's uncle, who appears briefly and who is, we are told, an abolitionist. This mention is pathetic, is done solely to explain the breech with the rest of the family, and goes nowhere. More telling are the soldiers the author has talking about going to war for "State's Rights". Yeah, the State's right to regulate what, exactly? Read the "Declaration of Secession" of Mississippi and then talk to me again.
Pushing aside the huge, gaping, sucking moral chest-wound that is this book's myth of the Gallant South... pushing that aside (don't push that aside) this is a "good book". Things done especially well was its ability to capture suffering - the reader is forced to consider what it means to be structurally powerless (while white); soldiers "foraging from the land" steal from characters who have nothing to give, families are radically disrupted through death and separation, widowed women have their property default away from them ( - that's actually not historically quite correct, but in a local context might well have occurred). Those moments where you are confronted with (exclusively white) human suffering are where the book is at its most sublime.
Note how the plot isn't mentioned; that's because there isn't plot in that there isn't a narrative story; instead the book tracks across time (in the truest sense), following characters as change marches ever onward. This leaves it feeling sweeping, but fractured. The war only lasts half the book, for instance and peace is declared abruptly; the romantic interests only meet half-way through the book. It is more of a character study than anything else.
Virginia, truly, had an appalling time. By the time the other character - Henry - walked onto her land, I was ready for her to catch a break. Henry and Virginia actually have a beautiful chemistry, the kind shared between people who have been worsted by a hard life without being broken by it. Henry's fall by that point in the novel has been spectacular - from the graceful scion of a wealthy Charleston slave-owning family to a wandering, male-identifying fur-trapper. Their romance isn't really romantic so far as it is more a wending - they have come together and found more strength than was available apart.
I gave the book stars for its writing, I took stars away from the book for its history. I should have taken more stars away, because the myth of the Gallant South is intellectually and historically immoral. But so long as you keep that firmly in your mind as you read this, it's a decent novel. Three stars.
Be advised that my poor rating was given out of anger. Alas; academics are a tough crowd to please when writing historical fiction, and for me this novel's little inaccuracies (and some infuriatingly serious ones) kept jolting me out of enjoyment. If you're not in flagrante delicto with Clio, this probably won't impact you much, but for especially historians - well. You're in for a fun ride - "State's Rights", no mention of Lincoln's election, hardly any black people, fundamental tactical and doctrinal misunderstandings, inaccurate equipment/supply, silence about home-problems (like the food riots), etc. The book does try, but it reads like someone read a Southern Apologist wiki page and then jammed some key battles into the narrative and called it good. Everything was just fractionally wrong (they're called minié balls god-fucking-damnit, I just can't take "mini balls" anymore!)
But honestly and truly, no matter how well written, this book is going to anger a lot of people - for good and decent reasons. Any Civil War novel with only a single black person - and that one an "Uncle Tom" kind attached to her caring white family - that sort of book deserves our complete condemnation. Its silence is dishonest. The closest this book gets is Grace/Henry's uncle, who appears briefly and who is, we are told, an abolitionist. This mention is pathetic, is done solely to explain the breech with the rest of the family, and goes nowhere. More telling are the soldiers the author has talking about going to war for "State's Rights". Yeah, the State's right to regulate what, exactly? Read the "Declaration of Secession" of Mississippi and then talk to me again.
Pushing aside the huge, gaping, sucking moral chest-wound that is this book's myth of the Gallant South... pushing that aside (don't push that aside) this is a "good book". Things done especially well was its ability to capture suffering - the reader is forced to consider what it means to be structurally powerless (while white); soldiers "foraging from the land" steal from characters who have nothing to give, families are radically disrupted through death and separation, widowed women have their property default away from them ( - that's actually not historically quite correct, but in a local context might well have occurred). Those moments where you are confronted with (exclusively white) human suffering are where the book is at its most sublime.
Note how the plot isn't mentioned; that's because there isn't plot in that there isn't a narrative story; instead the book tracks across time (in the truest sense), following characters as change marches ever onward. This leaves it feeling sweeping, but fractured. The war only lasts half the book, for instance and peace is declared abruptly; the romantic interests only meet half-way through the book. It is more of a character study than anything else.
Virginia, truly, had an appalling time. By the time the other character - Henry - walked onto her land, I was ready for her to catch a break. Henry and Virginia actually have a beautiful chemistry, the kind shared between people who have been worsted by a hard life without being broken by it. Henry's fall by that point in the novel has been spectacular - from the graceful scion of a wealthy Charleston slave-owning family to a wandering, male-identifying fur-trapper. Their romance isn't really romantic so far as it is more a wending - they have come together and found more strength than was available apart.
I gave the book stars for its writing, I took stars away from the book for its history. I should have taken more stars away, because the myth of the Gallant South is intellectually and historically immoral. But so long as you keep that firmly in your mind as you read this, it's a decent novel. Three stars.
May 20, 2022
3 stars
Well, this focuses a lot on the more disgusting parts of civil war (killing, rape, disfiguration, mothers accidentally strangling their children,...) and shouldn't be, in my opinion, classified primarily as romance. Mostly because the romance part was severely underwhelming.
It's probably a good historical fiction book though, just not one for me.
Well, this focuses a lot on the more disgusting parts of civil war (killing, rape, disfiguration, mothers accidentally strangling their children,...) and shouldn't be, in my opinion, classified primarily as romance. Mostly because the romance part was severely underwhelming.
It's probably a good historical fiction book though, just not one for me.
January 26, 2015
Nothing expresses my feelings on this book better than Vic's review.
Some parts of the book dealing with the war and other acts of violence may be hard to read because of the graphic descriptions. But it is this 'realism' that elevates the book to a level above the usual 'women disguised as men' lesfic stories. Although the 'war years' take up roughly half of the book (and the women don't meet until after), it is still worth reading through as Henry and Virginia are both creatures of the war. The second half of the book, which is just as long as a full lesfic novel, explores the improbable romance. As Vic said, you need to slow down and savor the emotions generated by the author's words.
My only complaint is that it all ends too soon.
Some parts of the book dealing with the war and other acts of violence may be hard to read because of the graphic descriptions. But it is this 'realism' that elevates the book to a level above the usual 'women disguised as men' lesfic stories. Although the 'war years' take up roughly half of the book (and the women don't meet until after), it is still worth reading through as Henry and Virginia are both creatures of the war. The second half of the book, which is just as long as a full lesfic novel, explores the improbable romance. As Vic said, you need to slow down and savor the emotions generated by the author's words.
My only complaint is that it all ends too soon.
June 18, 2015
They stopped and stood in a circle. He looked up into the enemy and knew that these were the last faces he would ever see. And strangely their faces seemed to be filled with empathy and Henry knew they saw themselves in him.
With the civil war raging, Grace and her sister Louise find themselves fighting as their brothers Henry and Will, after losing all of their family to the war. Sadly Henry (Grace) is the only one of her family to make it out of the war alive.
This book is such a powerful and moving book, with bold deviations into the brutality of the War. It is told through Henrys and Virginias POV which coincide with each other to show two sides of the same coin. What I really liked about this is along with the story it also has journal entries written by Henry (Grace) throughout and after the war.
For the record, I LOVED this book and It’s a shame books like these don’t get more recognition, because with a powerful and emotional backdrop this book is a Diamond amongst rocks. I found myself divulged into Henrys world as he struggles with the pain, hope and anguish of war and how it changes a person.
Henry finds love along his perilous journey to escape the remnants of the war but is never sucsessful until he meets Miss Virginia, a Widow blinded by the war. I just adored Virginia; she is the hope and faith that restores Henrys humanity.
“Open a vein! Go ahead, Open it!”
“In fifty years the war will seem like a myth to the two generations after us, Henry…They will romanticize it. And the brutality and horror will be conveniently erased so that it will appeal to the children who will beg you and I to tell our stories. And when a six year old asks you, will you open a vein for him”
This book was fantastic, the attention to detail that miss Hamilton has gone into is exceptional. And I will rave about it because, personally I dislike war books, but this, FIREFLY, was something much, much more. It was graphic, personal, prolific, beautiful, mesmerising, captivating the list goes on. It is a must read for anyone.
Fully five stars worth. (And it was under $5 on the kindle store! But it is worth so much more)
With the civil war raging, Grace and her sister Louise find themselves fighting as their brothers Henry and Will, after losing all of their family to the war. Sadly Henry (Grace) is the only one of her family to make it out of the war alive.
This book is such a powerful and moving book, with bold deviations into the brutality of the War. It is told through Henrys and Virginias POV which coincide with each other to show two sides of the same coin. What I really liked about this is along with the story it also has journal entries written by Henry (Grace) throughout and after the war.
For the record, I LOVED this book and It’s a shame books like these don’t get more recognition, because with a powerful and emotional backdrop this book is a Diamond amongst rocks. I found myself divulged into Henrys world as he struggles with the pain, hope and anguish of war and how it changes a person.
Henry finds love along his perilous journey to escape the remnants of the war but is never sucsessful until he meets Miss Virginia, a Widow blinded by the war. I just adored Virginia; she is the hope and faith that restores Henrys humanity.
“Open a vein! Go ahead, Open it!”
“In fifty years the war will seem like a myth to the two generations after us, Henry…They will romanticize it. And the brutality and horror will be conveniently erased so that it will appeal to the children who will beg you and I to tell our stories. And when a six year old asks you, will you open a vein for him”
This book was fantastic, the attention to detail that miss Hamilton has gone into is exceptional. And I will rave about it because, personally I dislike war books, but this, FIREFLY, was something much, much more. It was graphic, personal, prolific, beautiful, mesmerising, captivating the list goes on. It is a must read for anyone.
Fully five stars worth. (And it was under $5 on the kindle store! But it is worth so much more)
January 7, 2014
Such a heartfelt book - I didn't want to put it down! 4.5 stars
April 9, 2014
My rating of 3 stars is lower than many other ratings.
This is for me one of the most difficult books to give a rating to, or to write a review for.
This is because this book actually has everything that makes a book extraordinary. For me this is the most special, emotional, tender and beautiful love story I've ever read. And yet, these facts makes it also the most unsatisfied love story that I've read.
Major spoilers coming up, so you better first read the book!
This is for me one of the most difficult books to give a rating to, or to write a review for.
This is because this book actually has everything that makes a book extraordinary. For me this is the most special, emotional, tender and beautiful love story I've ever read. And yet, these facts makes it also the most unsatisfied love story that I've read.
Major spoilers coming up, so you better first read the book!
March 25, 2014
When you first get this book, preempt all the other books you're currently reading because this one is worth your undivided attention. The only downside to this book is it needed a better editor.
After 2 pages, though, the content stole my attention. This book really grabbed my emotions and connected deeply with me. Anyone who's felt love and/or loss before can easily connect. Since I've lost some good friends lately, it was hard at times to tell whether or not I was feeling my own feelings or feeling what the characters felt, as strange as that may seem. There are many beautiful turns of phrases and amazing ideas that sound poetic, but unlike poetry, those ideas can be understood easily. Like I said, just a book that connects on a very visceral level.
This book is more than beautiful writing, though. The author's great eye for historical detail makes it even more pleasurable to read, but this book also deals with the lack of job opportunities/choices that women faced in a rough era and how women couldn't really function without men unless they became one. The book also deals with more modern issues and shows that gender and sexuality are fluid and can't be defined in rigid terms. This piece shows how it's possible to fall in love with someone whom one is "not supposed" to fall in love with.
Whether or not you're into dissecting books' themes and meanings, this is just one hell of a read and well worth it. I'm proud to have it on my bookshelf and will re-read it someday.
After 2 pages, though, the content stole my attention. This book really grabbed my emotions and connected deeply with me. Anyone who's felt love and/or loss before can easily connect. Since I've lost some good friends lately, it was hard at times to tell whether or not I was feeling my own feelings or feeling what the characters felt, as strange as that may seem. There are many beautiful turns of phrases and amazing ideas that sound poetic, but unlike poetry, those ideas can be understood easily. Like I said, just a book that connects on a very visceral level.
This book is more than beautiful writing, though. The author's great eye for historical detail makes it even more pleasurable to read, but this book also deals with the lack of job opportunities/choices that women faced in a rough era and how women couldn't really function without men unless they became one. The book also deals with more modern issues and shows that gender and sexuality are fluid and can't be defined in rigid terms. This piece shows how it's possible to fall in love with someone whom one is "not supposed" to fall in love with.
Whether or not you're into dissecting books' themes and meanings, this is just one hell of a read and well worth it. I'm proud to have it on my bookshelf and will re-read it someday.
December 28, 2017
Great beginning and then.....
The first half of this book was magnificent and then, without warning, it faltered. The pity party Henry/Grace indulged in became repetitive and extremely annoying. Self involved and boring. Fell in love at the drop of a hat, even with a man with the mind of a child. Virginia was by far the better character. Strong, independent, refusing to give in to tragic events in her life. Virginia's hardship made her a better person. Henry/Grace never achieved anything close to being a better person. Just wallowing in misery of his/her on making. Why Virginia cared at all is beyond my ability to understand. Grace would have never had the courage to do the things Virginia or Louise did. A regrettable second half to what should have been a very good book.
The first half of this book was magnificent and then, without warning, it faltered. The pity party Henry/Grace indulged in became repetitive and extremely annoying. Self involved and boring. Fell in love at the drop of a hat, even with a man with the mind of a child. Virginia was by far the better character. Strong, independent, refusing to give in to tragic events in her life. Virginia's hardship made her a better person. Henry/Grace never achieved anything close to being a better person. Just wallowing in misery of his/her on making. Why Virginia cared at all is beyond my ability to understand. Grace would have never had the courage to do the things Virginia or Louise did. A regrettable second half to what should have been a very good book.
March 21, 2014
I would have given this novel 4 stars except it was spoiled for me by the poor proof-reading. Loads of grammatical errors, words missing and, at one point, a character gets called the wrong name. The paragraph spacing was also tight and not indented on the Kindle digital version that I read.
It was a shame because this is a well-written, well-paced and intriguingly different story. I enjoyed the style of the writing and thought the characters' journeys believable. Hamilton's quality of prose and research are not in doubt, but she needs to get a decent proof-reader.
It was a shame because this is a well-written, well-paced and intriguingly different story. I enjoyed the style of the writing and thought the characters' journeys believable. Hamilton's quality of prose and research are not in doubt, but she needs to get a decent proof-reader.
July 28, 2019
I thought it was slow at first, and the accents sort of made it heavy for me. I was actually about to stop midway through, but I kept on reading. It's dark, and has a realistic view when it comes to war, and I relate to the main character well enough. But the ending was not very satisfying to me, despite the book being a good one.
November 25, 2016
In „Firefly” Whitney Hamilton created a beautiful combination of a historical Civil War novel with a lesbian romance trend. The story seems to be written after Henry Kieler’s journal, it starts in July 31st, 1861 in Charleston, South Carolina at the begining of the Cold War when the news comes to Grace’s home that her brothers Henry, William and Hamilton and her husband Luscious had died in the War and shortly her parents die too and shortly they have lost their big home into the Great Charleston Fire and their Columbia farm very soon and Grace and her sister Louise decide to join the war as their brothers Henry and Will, while Lucy is pregnant and has the fever and it is left behind at some aquaintances. The story ends in July 13th, 1866 in Shepherdstown, West Virginia when Henry finanlly finds his home into Virginia’s arms marrying her as an arrangement to help her not to lose her farm. Remember, in those times many men died and women were alone and without rights because the men in the family had all the rights according to the laws and women had none, that’s why when Virginia’s husband Oliver died all the propriety rights went her brother in law Loyd, her sister’s Jessie husband who was secretly in love with Virginia and very jealous on Henry.
„Firefly” is a huge surprise regarding the expectations from the characters. Henry/Grace mysteriously starts his/her journey and it follows in the same undertone of disguise on his/her road less taken to maturity from the high society mistress grace to a soldier that witnesses the horrors of the American Civil War including the martyr of his/her sister Louise and finally into Virginia’s shy husband in disguise. And there’s Virginia, a usual housewife from the south to whom the War has stolen her sight, her child, her husband and almost her property, yet not her feminine surface and the beautiful intimacy between her soul and her heart and her mind engulfed in her body and her need to love and belong altogether with the southern hospitality that turns her into the strong woman that although being blind manages to conquer Henry’s heart and to follow and fulfill her destiny.
Grace needs to get lost into Henry’s identity in order to survive and willingly takes the burden of war onto him, perhaps in search of forgetting the death of her family members or perhaps out of innocence she becomes him, yet holds a tenderness and a self consciousness that melts Virginia’s heart. Henry fights with Louise as Will and Robert and Joseph, yet she has to witness her pregnant sister’s brutal death and swears she will find Eliza, Louise’s daughter. They meet Virginia while they were heading towards Gettysburg and she was very scared with Sophie in her arms, her daughter and they take her silver service, yet Joseph will return it after the war. After his sister’s death, Henry deserts the army and lives in the woods with a boy, Jamison, he saved from a dangerous situation, Grace was dust and now Henry just needed to survive, but when Jamison is badly hurt by Indians and he let himself go in the river, Henry’s heart sank and he was also wounded, had an X marked on his chest and in search of work he arrives at Virginia’s farm right on time to help her keep the land.
Virginia’s life was beautiful with her husband Oliver, although she feared everytime he left their cabin at the farm from down the Appalachian Mountains to join the war, especially now when she was pregnant with his child. She helps her sister Jessie to tend the wounded and Oliver dies in her arms and she’s badly wounded and lost her sight , yet gives birth to her daughter Sophie right there between the hospital’s bricks, it’s a miracle. She lives with her sister a while and when for the first time she stays the night at the cabin, she meets Henry and Joseph, but she loses Sophie who dies of the cold. She’s shattered and involves herself into silence until she meets an old mistress who offers her a home and the chance to become a piano teacher to the children in town, there she meets to women that love each other Anna and Katie, yet the funding is off after some time and she decides to come back to her cabin at the farm after her brother in law had tend to it a bit after winter and then she meets Henry.
Virginia was created very imaginative, with a strong sense of tenderness, kindness, intimacy and self-conscious, she studies her feelings towards her husband, she learns so much together with her blindness comes a whole new world of wanders, she ties knots and creates phrases that speak her own mind, she’s intuitive, her other senses are sharper now, her sense of smell, her capacity to empathize and to sense things deeper, she can read people with her mind’s eye. As a reader I fell in love with Virginia’s combination of beauty, tenderness, intimacy and strength of will. Henry too, that’s why he accepted her marriage proposal, that’s why he helped her save the farm, that’s why he left when Grace couldn’t understand the fact that she loved a woman. Virginia found out so much about herself in loving Henry and how her sensations differ and how her feelings deepen for a boy that hasn’t even kissed her, she will kiss him and he’ll kiss her back after a long time, yet this waiting creates the love that makes their hearts last with hope and with a love beyond eternity.
https://inkmarksonemptydreams.com/201...
„Firefly” is a huge surprise regarding the expectations from the characters. Henry/Grace mysteriously starts his/her journey and it follows in the same undertone of disguise on his/her road less taken to maturity from the high society mistress grace to a soldier that witnesses the horrors of the American Civil War including the martyr of his/her sister Louise and finally into Virginia’s shy husband in disguise. And there’s Virginia, a usual housewife from the south to whom the War has stolen her sight, her child, her husband and almost her property, yet not her feminine surface and the beautiful intimacy between her soul and her heart and her mind engulfed in her body and her need to love and belong altogether with the southern hospitality that turns her into the strong woman that although being blind manages to conquer Henry’s heart and to follow and fulfill her destiny.
Grace needs to get lost into Henry’s identity in order to survive and willingly takes the burden of war onto him, perhaps in search of forgetting the death of her family members or perhaps out of innocence she becomes him, yet holds a tenderness and a self consciousness that melts Virginia’s heart. Henry fights with Louise as Will and Robert and Joseph, yet she has to witness her pregnant sister’s brutal death and swears she will find Eliza, Louise’s daughter. They meet Virginia while they were heading towards Gettysburg and she was very scared with Sophie in her arms, her daughter and they take her silver service, yet Joseph will return it after the war. After his sister’s death, Henry deserts the army and lives in the woods with a boy, Jamison, he saved from a dangerous situation, Grace was dust and now Henry just needed to survive, but when Jamison is badly hurt by Indians and he let himself go in the river, Henry’s heart sank and he was also wounded, had an X marked on his chest and in search of work he arrives at Virginia’s farm right on time to help her keep the land.
Virginia’s life was beautiful with her husband Oliver, although she feared everytime he left their cabin at the farm from down the Appalachian Mountains to join the war, especially now when she was pregnant with his child. She helps her sister Jessie to tend the wounded and Oliver dies in her arms and she’s badly wounded and lost her sight , yet gives birth to her daughter Sophie right there between the hospital’s bricks, it’s a miracle. She lives with her sister a while and when for the first time she stays the night at the cabin, she meets Henry and Joseph, but she loses Sophie who dies of the cold. She’s shattered and involves herself into silence until she meets an old mistress who offers her a home and the chance to become a piano teacher to the children in town, there she meets to women that love each other Anna and Katie, yet the funding is off after some time and she decides to come back to her cabin at the farm after her brother in law had tend to it a bit after winter and then she meets Henry.
Virginia was created very imaginative, with a strong sense of tenderness, kindness, intimacy and self-conscious, she studies her feelings towards her husband, she learns so much together with her blindness comes a whole new world of wanders, she ties knots and creates phrases that speak her own mind, she’s intuitive, her other senses are sharper now, her sense of smell, her capacity to empathize and to sense things deeper, she can read people with her mind’s eye. As a reader I fell in love with Virginia’s combination of beauty, tenderness, intimacy and strength of will. Henry too, that’s why he accepted her marriage proposal, that’s why he helped her save the farm, that’s why he left when Grace couldn’t understand the fact that she loved a woman. Virginia found out so much about herself in loving Henry and how her sensations differ and how her feelings deepen for a boy that hasn’t even kissed her, she will kiss him and he’ll kiss her back after a long time, yet this waiting creates the love that makes their hearts last with hope and with a love beyond eternity.
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May 18, 2019
this fuckin hit me in a weird place
June 12, 2019
Just WOW
What an amazing book. Im going to have to rest a moment after finishing it. I recommend this book to everyone.
What an amazing book. Im going to have to rest a moment after finishing it. I recommend this book to everyone.
September 19, 2025
Rompió mi corazón
May 18, 2025
Great and intense book,but shouldn't be classified with a romance tag at allllll
December 27, 2014
So….I gave this 4 stars because until the end, the writing was just incredible. It was haunting and lyrical.
There were times when I couldn't put it down. However, I really wanted 3.5 stars. It's probably just me….but for a book that was so rooted in incredible emotions, the last 3% was just bizarre. It felt so rushed and just not "real" to me. I wish the author had not spent so much time in Henry's comatose mind. That was the part that felt so weird to me.
There were times when I couldn't put it down. However, I really wanted 3.5 stars. It's probably just me….but for a book that was so rooted in incredible emotions, the last 3% was just bizarre. It felt so rushed and just not "real" to me. I wish the author had not spent so much time in Henry's comatose mind. That was the part that felt so weird to me.
November 23, 2014
It was a slow read, but worth every minute! The Civil War was really terrible, and described in horrific details, but on the other side there is the beauty of the nature and the two main characters, especially Virginia.
Had to buy the DVD, actually, though the film is not supposed to be so very good.
Had to buy the DVD, actually, though the film is not supposed to be so very good.
January 8, 2015
Great Book
October 5, 2017
A very captivating and emotional read. I love the war backdrop, the candidness of the emotions of the characters especially that of grace/Henry and the way relationships were created with Jemison and Virginia.
For these it's deserving of my 5 stars. But I do have my concerns or perhaps confusion as to why Virginia would rather accept Grace as Henry rather than as Grace. I know if Henry is to survive the times especially romantically with Virginia, Grace will have to maintain the facade but within the confines of their privacy I'd expect Virginia to accept that the soul she fell in love with is a woman.
For these it's deserving of my 5 stars. But I do have my concerns or perhaps confusion as to why Virginia would rather accept Grace as Henry rather than as Grace. I know if Henry is to survive the times especially romantically with Virginia, Grace will have to maintain the facade but within the confines of their privacy I'd expect Virginia to accept that the soul she fell in love with is a woman.
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