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Memory of Light: An Aftermath of Gettysburg
Jefferson Coates signed on for the War Between the States, ready to give his life for his country. He wasn't prepared for blindness.
He lost his eyes. He lost his livelihood. But he never lost the stubborn grit that kept him upright. From the Battle of South Mountain to the bloody fields of Gettysburg, through the daily struggle to live as a blind man on the unforgiving American frontier, this Medal of Honor winner never flinched.
Rachel Drew was no ordinary woman. In a world when girls grew up quickly, she left home to forge her own dreams. She never expected to marry or raise a family . . . not until she met a broom maker named Jefferson Coates.
Based on a true story, "Memory of Light" is about two independent souls forging their life and love on the Nebraska frontier.
He lost his eyes. He lost his livelihood. But he never lost the stubborn grit that kept him upright. From the Battle of South Mountain to the bloody fields of Gettysburg, through the daily struggle to live as a blind man on the unforgiving American frontier, this Medal of Honor winner never flinched.
Rachel Drew was no ordinary woman. In a world when girls grew up quickly, she left home to forge her own dreams. She never expected to marry or raise a family . . . not until she met a broom maker named Jefferson Coates.
Based on a true story, "Memory of Light" is about two independent souls forging their life and love on the Nebraska frontier.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
200 pages, Paperback
Published April 25, 2016
6 people are currently reading
330 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 8, 2016
The Battle of Gettysburg was the major turning point in the American Civil War, and a turning point for many of the men fighting there that day. This vibrant novel uses the lives of two historical figures, Jefferson Coates and Rachel Drew, to describe the battle, its effects on the wounded, and how they made lives for themselves afterwards despite tremendous obstacles.
The story opens as the battle starts on July 1st, 1863 and Sergeant Jefferson Coates leads his troops from Wisconsin into the fight. The fierce hostilities that hot day left many men dead and even more wounded, including Jefferson Coates who has been shot and blinded in both eyes. A Southern soldier kindly moves him from the sun into the shade of a tree and gives him water, but he is then left alone for three days under that tree as cannons shake the earth.
Nine hundred miles away in Boscobel, Wisconsin, Rachel Drew has moved from her father’s house after conflict with her new stepmother. Energetic and enterprising, Rachel is only fifteen when the story opens that July 1st, but has yearned to volunteer as a nurse for the army. That dream comes to naught, but she soon hears of the chance for free land for settlers in Nebraska and begins to save her meager earnings to pay for that journey.
Jefferson, meanwhile, survives the battle, ending up in the Philadelphia Institution for the Instruction of the Blind where he spends almost three years learning to live without his sight, as well as without taste and smell. Upon his return to Boscobel, his mother arranges for her son to meet the independent and hardworking Rachel. Even though neither of these self-reliant people expects to find love, they do.
The stories of Jefferson and Rachel are told in alternating chapters with the attention to detail you might see in a sepia-toned movie. Jefferson Coates was one of the first recipients of the Medal of Honor for his bravery under fire at Gettysburg. Despite his blindness, he and the intrepid Rachel finally realize her dream of settling on free land in Nebraska, travelling by covered wagon there with two small children and with Rachel pregnant with another. They created lives for themselves and their children on the Nebraska plains, starting in a sod house before building a farmhouse.
This compelling novel could be enjoyed by anyone over the age of twelve. And if you can finish it without a tear in your eye, you are tougher than I am.
The story opens as the battle starts on July 1st, 1863 and Sergeant Jefferson Coates leads his troops from Wisconsin into the fight. The fierce hostilities that hot day left many men dead and even more wounded, including Jefferson Coates who has been shot and blinded in both eyes. A Southern soldier kindly moves him from the sun into the shade of a tree and gives him water, but he is then left alone for three days under that tree as cannons shake the earth.
Nine hundred miles away in Boscobel, Wisconsin, Rachel Drew has moved from her father’s house after conflict with her new stepmother. Energetic and enterprising, Rachel is only fifteen when the story opens that July 1st, but has yearned to volunteer as a nurse for the army. That dream comes to naught, but she soon hears of the chance for free land for settlers in Nebraska and begins to save her meager earnings to pay for that journey.
Jefferson, meanwhile, survives the battle, ending up in the Philadelphia Institution for the Instruction of the Blind where he spends almost three years learning to live without his sight, as well as without taste and smell. Upon his return to Boscobel, his mother arranges for her son to meet the independent and hardworking Rachel. Even though neither of these self-reliant people expects to find love, they do.
The stories of Jefferson and Rachel are told in alternating chapters with the attention to detail you might see in a sepia-toned movie. Jefferson Coates was one of the first recipients of the Medal of Honor for his bravery under fire at Gettysburg. Despite his blindness, he and the intrepid Rachel finally realize her dream of settling on free land in Nebraska, travelling by covered wagon there with two small children and with Rachel pregnant with another. They created lives for themselves and their children on the Nebraska plains, starting in a sod house before building a farmhouse.
This compelling novel could be enjoyed by anyone over the age of twelve. And if you can finish it without a tear in your eye, you are tougher than I am.
July 11, 2016
I love Mollie Cox Bryan's Cumberland Creek mystery series, and I was excited to see what she would do with a completely different type of story, so I may have gone into this one with expectations that were a bit too high for a first attempt at novelized history. The characters are great - well written, fully fleshed out - which is particularly impressive given the author's desire to remain consistent with the limited primary source evidence available about the real people whose story she is telling. However, that reliance on the historical record is a limitation on the plot side - since the book is so short, the extrapolations necessary to get the characters from point to point sometimes feel forced or rushed - I think that a few steps back from the sources to look at the full story arc during the editing process might have improved the flow. But a solid story, still - I hope there will be more forays into this genre in the future!
September 26, 2016
Fictional biography about Rachel Drew and Jefferson Coates. Mr. Coates was a Medal of Honor winner during the Civil War. He lost his sight at the battle of Gettysburg. This book covers his struggle with coping with his blindness. Rachel was a Wisconsin girl, who was very independent with dreams of moving to Nebraska and farming on her own. This is a fictionalized true story, though the author admits to tweaking the facts in order to create a better story in her afterward. It was a short enjoyable read.
June 19, 2016
I won this book in a Facebook drawing by the author and am really happy I did. While the book holds few surprises, it is a lovely story of a wounded Civil War soldier and a feisty woman who make a beautiful match. Their story is told in alternating chapters which set the pace to their inevitable meeting, courtship and life together.
July 10, 2016
Memory of Light
I love stories that are true, this is one. Very interesting story of a soldier and becoming blind. His life, marriage and children. Interesting and a very good read. Mollie has created a very life like true story of a man with a life that turned out differently than he expected.
I love stories that are true, this is one. Very interesting story of a soldier and becoming blind. His life, marriage and children. Interesting and a very good read. Mollie has created a very life like true story of a man with a life that turned out differently than he expected.
August 28, 2016
Amazing life story
This 19 year old young soldier had to grow up way too quickly. I so loved the spunk of his love I interest as well. I guess I just loved everything about this story so I highly recommend it.
This 19 year old young soldier had to grow up way too quickly. I so loved the spunk of his love I interest as well. I guess I just loved everything about this story so I highly recommend it.
July 11, 2017
I was drawn to this book, not just because I was honored to be one of the many women whose poetry and prose were published in an anthology by Mollie years ago, but because of my interest in the Civil War era. I thoroughly enjoyed this story based on a true family, as it took me along their journey and gave me a peek into my own great grandfather and his siblings who fought in the war as well on the Union side.
September 24, 2018
Beautiful story
This was a moving and inspirational story about a soldier who was seriously wounded in the Civil War and the twists and turns his life took after the war ended. The story is not just his, but his wife's, too. Together they carried on in love and loss and it is a privilege to be able to read about them a century and a half after the events of the story take place. I highly recommend the book.
This was a moving and inspirational story about a soldier who was seriously wounded in the Civil War and the twists and turns his life took after the war ended. The story is not just his, but his wife's, too. Together they carried on in love and loss and it is a privilege to be able to read about them a century and a half after the events of the story take place. I highly recommend the book.
September 1, 2016
It took me a while to get into this - several false starts and distractions got in the way - but when I finally got going, I read the entire book in 24 hours. It's based on a true story, and it's a heartfelt, sympathetic look at the fate of a young soldier from Wisconsin blinded at Gettysburg. In the 1860s, support for the blind was only just becoming adequate: Jefferson Coates was fortunate enough to go to an institute where they taught blind people how to have a trade (broom maker), to read the new Braille, and to become independent. Eventually, he sets off to Nebraska where he builds a homestead and becomes a farmer.
Mollie Cox Bryan does a great job of helping us feel what it's like to live without senses - not only has Coates lost his sight, but also his sense of both smell and taste. He's deprived of his ability to enjoy food, as well as the nature around him, and he can no longer read his beloved newspapers. But somehow, he endures, and even develops a synesthetic love of music as a result.
Personally, although I was fascinated by his story, I was less enthralled by what was happening with his eventual wife, Rachel, particularly in the early days while he was away in the war and she was at home in Wisconsin. While the story is definitely about both of them, and she was clearly an amazing, determined woman, I felt the story lost focus in the first half as it cut between the two of them. I wanted to know about him and how he was coping with his affliction, not about her and her quilting. I'd have preferred to have followed him initially, and then been introduced to her later when she became part of his story. But that's a matter of taste - I'm sure others will enjoy reading about her and seeing the contrast.
Mollie Cox Bryan does a great job of helping us feel what it's like to live without senses - not only has Coates lost his sight, but also his sense of both smell and taste. He's deprived of his ability to enjoy food, as well as the nature around him, and he can no longer read his beloved newspapers. But somehow, he endures, and even develops a synesthetic love of music as a result.
Personally, although I was fascinated by his story, I was less enthralled by what was happening with his eventual wife, Rachel, particularly in the early days while he was away in the war and she was at home in Wisconsin. While the story is definitely about both of them, and she was clearly an amazing, determined woman, I felt the story lost focus in the first half as it cut between the two of them. I wanted to know about him and how he was coping with his affliction, not about her and her quilting. I'd have preferred to have followed him initially, and then been introduced to her later when she became part of his story. But that's a matter of taste - I'm sure others will enjoy reading about her and seeing the contrast.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews