Good Time Coming

by C.S. Harris (contributor)

It's the start of the American Civil War. The Union army is sailing down the Mississippi, leaving destruction in its wake. For one family the Union army isn't the only thing they fear. A girl stops an attack on her mother and the town must pull together to keep safe. But a cryptic message casts doubt amongst them. Is there a traitor in the town?

Genres: Historical Fiction, Civil War, Historical, Fiction, War, American Civil War, Coming Of Age

256 pages, ebook

First published December 1, 2016

About the author

Candice Proctor, aka C.S. Harris and C.S. Graham, is the bestselling, award-winning author of more than a dozen novels including the Sebastian St. Cyr Regency mystery series written under the name C.S. Harris, the new C.S. Graham thriller series co-written with Steven Harris, and seven historical romances. She is also the author of a nonfiction historical study of the French Revolution. Her books are available worldwide and have been translated into over twenty different languages.

Candice graduated Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude with a degree in Classics before going on to earn an MA and Ph.D. in history. A former academic, she has taught at the University of Idaho and Midwestern State University in Texas. She also worked as an archaeologist on a variety of sites including a Hudson's Bay Company Fort in San Juan Island, a Cherokee village in Tennessee, a prehistoric kill site in Victoria, Australia, and a Roman cemetery and medieval manor house in Winchester, England. Most recently, she spent many years as a partner in an international business consulting firm.

The daughter of a career Air Force officer and university professor, Proctor loves to travel and has spent much of her life abroad. She has lived in Spain, Greece, England, France, Jordan, and Australia. She now makes her home in New Orleans, Louisiana, with her husband, retired Army officer Steve Harris, her two daughters, and an ever-expanding number of cats.

Reviews

[Angela M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was hooked by the opening sentence and then by the descriptive writing, but mostly by the young girl Amrie, of St. Francisville , Louisiana growing up during the Civil War. I almost always enjoy child narrators and Amrie is one of them . She's 12 when the story begins and even though she may seem a bit too precocious, a little too smart than someone her age should be, she still possessed that childlike vulnerability and innocence and it's this combination that drew me to her. But as the war years pass and she begins to recognize what is happening around her and summons up the strength and the wherewithal to do things she never imaged. That innocence quickly fades and when the story ends she is 15 and a young woman who has seen and done unimaginable things. This is a different perspective of the Civil War , not happening on the battlefields of the soldiers which takes place at a distance. The focus here is on impact on those left behind, the women and the children facing food shortage and horrific deeds - rape , murder and the desperation of trying to protect themselves. Certainly there are other relevant themes such as slavery and abolition, the futility of war, but it's the strength of the women and children who before our eyes become adults is what moved me the most. I don't know a lot of specifics about the Civil War, but in reading the author's notes at the end, it is apparent how well researched this book is . Especially notable is that she read "hundreds of journals, memoirs, and letters" left behind by the women left behind .

I received an ARC of this book from Severn House Publishers through NetGalley.

[Diane S ☔]

Amrie was only ten when her father left their home in St, Francisville, Louisiana to fight in the Civil War. Her parents were not slaveholders, having freed their slaves many years before, and mother and daughter are left with only a few faithful retainers. For the first fire years the war barely touches them and Amrie lives a life of freedom, fishing and hunting with a friend, a young man named Finn. All this will change with the federal bombardment and takeover of New Orleans and the Union Armies attempt to control the Mississippi river.

Writing this from the perspective of a young girl really brings home the changes emotionally and physically that the woman left alone after the men have gone to fight, went through. Seeing through her eyes, we witness the full horrors of this war. What these women and children went through at the hands of Union soldiers, the plunder, the rapes, the cruelty from men who also had families of their own back at home in the North. We see starvation, diseases, fires and many left with untold sorrows, deaths of their children. Amie herself changes of course during this period, from a young carefree girl, to a young woman trying to understand the cruelties. There will be moments of kindnesses and one particular brave act of friendship, when all the women must pull together to save their town.

I have read this author for many years, her historical mysteries being one of my favorites, and was equally as impressed by her writing in this novel. Her research is impeccable as she includes an author's note at the end of the book. It is once again wonderful to read another book that features the trials of the women left behind, realizing that their war at home was as noteworthy as that of the men fighting. An amazingly vivid book, memorable characters and a look at some brave people who did the best they could to survive during a time of horrific cruelty and uncertainty.

ARC from Netgalley.

[Phrynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read all of this author's Sebastian St Cyr series and loved them so it was an easy choice for me to read this stand alone novel. C.S. Harris appears to have had no difficulty switching from Victorian London to Civil War Louisiana.

Unfortunately I do not know a lot about this war myself but am reassured by many comments in reviews that Good Time Coming has been well researched. Harris gives us a realistic and detailed account of what it was like for the women and children of Louisiana living virtually on a battlefield with no men to aid or protect them. Shortages of food, no medicines, freezing cold winters and then what little they had being taken or spoiled by the actions of the troops. And of course there were rapes.

Good Time Coming is written from the point of view of Amrie, a young girl who has to endure things no one should ever have to experience. Once or twice I wondered if the book was written with a Young Adult readership in mind because it would be perfectly appropriate as a very readable history lesson.

Altogether I found it an enjoyable, informative and very worthwhile read.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Time Coming by C.S. Harris is a 2016 Severn House publication.

“War in all men’s eyes shall be a monster of iniquity, in the good time coming

Nations shall not quarrel then, to prove which is the stronger

Nor slaughter men for glory’s sake

Wait a little longer.”



This is C.S. Harris like you have never known her before! The popular author of the beloved Sebastian St. Cyr Victorian mystery series has taken on the Civil War from the Southern perspective, in a raw, powerful, work of historical fiction that will leave you as haunted as the characters brought to life through the pages in this book.

St. Francisville, Louisiana, a river town that has escaped much of the hardships of the war, finds their luck has turned when New Orleans falls.

Twelve year old, Amrie is surrounded by good friends and family, although her parents garnered some disdain due to their abolitionist leanings. But, when the realities of war soon closes in around them on all sides, the women left behind to fend for themselves, must pull together, because they will need every single ounce of fortitude and courage to face the very dark, violent, and dangerous times ahead of them.

First of all, it is important to note, this book is about the harsh realities of war, which means it can be very violent, harsh, brutal and painful. The author does not hold back or sugar coat anything, laying bare a stark depiction of the hardships and cruelty all southern women, from the genteel and well bred, protected ladies, to those less fortunate, both black and white, endured during the Civil War.

The story is told from the first- person perspective of Amrie, as she relates the atmosphere of her hometown, the fear that gripped them, the Federal attacks that not only left the land raped and scorched, pillaged and ruined but also left many women and children in that same condition.

Amrie, and her mother, are two strong women, ahead of their time, who exhibited forward thinking, and did what had to be done to protect themselves. They suffered great losses, felt a deep compassion and learned the depths of which humanity can sink or rise when faced with unbearable adversity.

The author has thoroughly researched journals and writings of Southern women who lived during this time, and boldly strips away that common myth that the Union soldiers did not rape or abuse women – all women- while they tore through the south.

Amrie’s voice is so heart wrenchingly real, so compelling and soulful, I felt as though I was living the events she described through her eyes. But, every single woman in this book will touch you in some way. Some were likeable, some remained an enigma, while others were a true inspiration and heroes in their own right.

This story is intense, but the characters are worth the emotional wringer you must endure, with a heart thumping, edge of your seat conclusion that filled my heart and allowed me to experience a little peace of mind, knowing these strong, admirable women would make it through to the next chapter of their lives despite the scars indelibly seared on their souls, with grace and aplomb, will do right by one another, and will become an inspiration and role model for many generations to come.

This in an outstanding novel, written with sympathy, but with bold candor, with no holds barred! I can’t express how impressed I am with the job C.S. Harris did with this book. I applaud her bravery and skill in addressing such difficult passages and subject matters and ugly truths that were badly in need of exposure.

Overall, this book is extraordinary and remarkable!! Hilda’s words to Colonel O’Keefe will ring in my ears for many days to come, and I will carry Armie’s courage and her incredible story in my heart for a long, long time to come.

5 stars

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another outstanding read by C.S. Harris. I have been a fan of the Sebastrian St. Cyr series and was eager to see her work on a different genre, time, and place. She does not disappoint!

My Reactions:
-I found the story to be a slow start initially. I was beginning to feel disappointed because I loved her other books. However, once the story picked up it became apparent to me why the start was slow. Harris was crafting her characters and building them to point where the reader already comes to care for them and their plight from the start. By the end of the book I was completely emotionally invested in Amrie, her mother, and even Grandma Adelaide.
-The atrocities committed by the soldiers during the Civil War were horrific. Harris aptly describes it as scenes right from the dark Middle Ages of raping, pillaging, burning. Each side was claiming to be on the right side of God. Amrie draws the conclusion that God simply doesn't care about any of them towards the end, the loss has been so great.
-I was struck by the strength of people living during the Civil War. When a tragedy strikes now, we have social media, cell phones, internet pages where the survivors post their status so their loved ones don't have to fret. Amrie receives a two month old letter from her father and brings them so much joy to receive word of his survival. The incredible toll of not knowing or rumors of the army wins/losses take a toll on the people, yet they soldier on. I am left feeling so fortunate and also so weak at the same time.
-I didn't realize fully the implications of what rape signified to the South. Harris explains it and also shows the reader the implication of how much history was covered up due to the fortitude of the women deciding they would not bring shame to their fathers, husbands, brothers, and South by admitting what happened to them. It is so awful, so moving, and so sad at the same time. These women were treated abominably and no one will ever know.
-Harris proves that she can write in any time period in multiple voices incredibly well.

Premise:
The Civil War is in its early stages. Amrie and her mother are left on the farm near St Francisville, Louisiana. It is a small river town that is soon besieged with Federal soldiers as they weave a path of destruction down the Mississippi River. Her father is a doctor and serving in the Confederate Army. Her mother should have been a doctor, if it was allowed, and instead serves the community in the capacity that a country doctor would do. Amrie begins her story telling us how the Federals come and it is through a child's eyes. A Federal officer initially steals her treasured gold cross necklace at her first encounter with them. By the end of the book, the Federals have stolen so much more.
There is a traitor in the area sending information to the Federal soldiers and suspicion is cast on Amrie's mother due to her activities and act of freeing her slaves prior to the war. When two Federal soldiers arrive on the farm and begin to ravage not only the buildings... the women are tested on survival and much more.

I highly recommend this book. My many thanks to Severn House and Netgalley for graciously allowing me to read this book in exchange for my review.

[Dan Lutts · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really interesting Civil War story because it's not from the military's point of view but from that of innocent civilians who were horribly affected by the war. The story is told by Amrie St. Pierre, an eleven-year old Confederate girl who lives near Vicksburg and Port Hudson. As the war goes closer and closer to her home, she grows up fast in order to help herself and her family to survive. But survival is difficult and many women and children die, either by being shot or being deliberately starved to death by the Union soldiers as they invade and destroy civilians homes and sources of food. The book can be a difficult read for some in the scenes where Union soldiers rape women.

I gave the book a four-star rating, though, because the back cover blurb says that "Amrie is forced to grow up fast. But it is her own fateful encounter with a tall, golden-haired Union captain named Gabriel that threatens to destroy everything and everyone she holds most dear." Unfortunately, Gabriel never appears in the story.

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been a lukewarm fan of the author's Sebastian St. Cyr books for a while now, neither avoiding them nor actively seeking them out, and thought this would be a safe bet, especially with an American Civil War setting.

It was safe, in that it was – as expected – solidly written, with good, well-rounded characters and a deep setting written knowledgeably. Dialogue was natural and believable. But in the end I enjoyed it rather less than the St. Cyr books. It's first person POV thirteen-year-old Amrie, and there were times I just wasn't comfortable with some of the things she comes out with – would she really know that a certain Union general I've never heard of was unpopular with his men?

Near the beginning of the book it comes out that there is a woman in the area who must be a spy, a traitor to the South – and there's suspicion wafting about that she might be Amrie's mother. It's a strange mystery that surfaces and submerges throughout the book until it kind of gets forgotten about. It starts out being one of the most important things in the girl's life – who is it? Could it be her mother? – and then … it stops.

‘Damn this war. Damn Abraham Lincoln and every hotheaded Southerner who pushed for secession and every sanctimonious Northern abolitionist who ever thought that one sin justifies another. Damn them, damn them, damn them.’

I'm almost embarrassed to admit how painful I found the frequent disparagement of Union soldiers, and even more that of Abraham Lincoln. Oh, and Grant and Sherman owned slaves. (Prove it.) Objectively, I get it. There's the wider lens, through which of course anyone in the Confederate States would never have a positive word for Lincoln, and of course their direct experience of the occupying army would be far stronger than any stories of atrocities by the Confederate Army. (And as to those atrocities, I really only need to say two words: "Forrest", and "Andersonville".) But it caused a knee-jerk belligerent reaction every time – "Oh yeah? Come over here and say that"… Know what? The South started it. The South lost. Lincoln did what he had to to preserve as much as he could. I'd drop a microphone if I had it.

I am unendingly tired of people – real or fictional – who are diametrically opposed to a cause and yet lend it their skills. Both of Amrie's parents are adamantly anti-slavery. Amrie says of her mother "nothing riled her more than slavery and war".So do they work to improve slaves' lots in life? Do they abandon the South and go North to work with and fight for the Union, and make some effort to change the attitudes of the abolitionists who apparently had the right idea and the wrong execution? Nope. For obvious reasons, the unrelenting horrors faced by Amrie and her family reminded me of Gone With the Wind, except with no apology for the "peculiar institution", no sympathy, which was good. Even better, there's a sort of an anti-Ashley among the characters; I hated Ashley. Reading another book set in the Reconstruction South, I made a note that when the Doctor asks me when and where I want to go in the TARDIS, I will possibly say "anywhere but then and there." I suppose, depending on how you look at it, war can bring out the best in some people – but in all the rest it exposes nothing but bad. It's hard to read.

What makes it even a little harder to read, and one of the biggest reasons I just could not like this book, was the author's habit of ending nearly every single section – whether chapter or section broken out by skipped lines, or occasionally just paragraphs – with a weighty pronouncement, a one-sentence summation of the events just described or, more often, a single sentence of foreshadowing. "But God had other ideas." "But I was about to learn that bargains don’t work any better than prayers." And so on. And on. AND on. They were everywhere. It got to be somewhere between funny and one-more-and-I'll-scream. This sort of thing is like salt – some is good. More is not better.

I have to say I hated the end. Which will get spoiler-y, so continue reading thus warned in five …

Four…

Three…

Two…

One.

Last warning.

Still here? Here's the spoiler.

In the very last pages, Amrie's father comes home, apparently safe and sound. His family rushes to greet him. The End. And it bothered me, deeply – because there is no way he's safe and sound. He has gone through hell, was if I recall correctly wounded and captured, and is coming back to a place that has been gutted. His home is all but gone; his neighbors have been decimated, or worse; most of his possessions are gone; his wife and daughter are not remotely the same woman and child he left behind. So, yes, it's lovely that they all survived. But that's not the end. And what comes after may in some ways be worse than what has gone before. The book had to end somewhere – but I felt like this was a terrible place to drop the story.

The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.

[Tracy]

Well, I love this author's Sébastien St Cyr series and I wanted to love this book too. But the truth is at 30%, I'm rather bored and uninterested. I then saw a review where someone mentioned there are 3-4 rapes that occur. When I saw that, I thought no thanks. So, I'm setting it aside.

[Sophia · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I think of American Civil War stories, I generally picture the bloody battles and misery of war on the battlefront. CS Harris showed how this war of brother against brother touched the lives of those back home who lived in the middle of the battleground and were equally ravaged by war. The author gave a face and a personality to a whole group of people and it made the devastating and brutal history of this time come alive.

The story opens during 1862 when a small Louisiana community along the Mississippi River are touched by the war waging all over the country. Anne-Marie, or Amrie as everyone calls her, is a girl of thirteen. The union blue soldiers arrive in their iron steamers. Amrie and her best friend, a poor Irish farmboy, Finn, go to watch. They hear the soldiers' warning about the consequences of attacking the boats and the army as they dig in to battle Vicksburg and Port Hudson after taking New Orleans. Suddenly the war doesn't seem far away. Amrie is especially touched by it when one officer rips her necklace right off her saying its her punishment for secessionist sympathies. This handsome golden-haired blue-eyed army captain is to return into her life a few more times and each time he takes something precious until she kills him.

Amrie lives with her mother and a few of the long-time workers on her small family farm while her father is off with the Confederate Army as a doctor. Her family has always been treated differently by her community because both her parents chose to free the slaves they inherited and this made them suspect of having Union sympathies. This is not a good time especially when a union spy is killed and bears a letter to 'Dear Madam' for some woman acting as informant in their community.

Amrie wants to find the truth and suspects a few even someone close, but between working hard to make do, harsh winters, and cruel Yankee raids that take more than just food, supplies, and contraband from the women of the community, she barely has time to spare the traitor in their midst much thought. Death and deprivation takes it's toll and the loss is high. Amrie grows up overnight and takes on adult responsibilities right alongside her mother and the other women. The war is changing her thinking on so many things and leaving her in a much different place growing up under such circumstances. Will any of her loved ones survive? Will the Yankees find out what she did to that raping, pillaging Captain? Will the traitor be discovered?

Alright, this book grabbed me by the emotions and took me to the gritty world of life in a war zone for a girl, her family, and community. It was achingly sad and horrific. I appreciate the work and the honesty that went into telling such a story. My perspective on that era in history has been enriched as a result.

The community she created in that small southern Louisiana town was colorful and many faceted with the immigrants, the old planter families, the free and slave, transplants from the north, and the fact that it was mostly old men, young boys, and women folk. It was interesting how war had a way of breaking down the class and color differences a bit, though some were staunch no matter what.

Another element that stood out to me was this was not just a story of the war, but of women's history. There were ladies who clung to the old ways, some stepped out of their old roles to do what needed doing like Amrie's mother who essentially became the town doctor and had the training, but not the credential because women weren't allowed. It was also a transitional time because of war, women would struggle to going back to the old roles. Amrie has dreams of following her mother in studying medicine, but she is determined to have the degree and title of 'doctor'.

As to Amrie, herself, she starts out a typical self-absorbed kid who lives and loves, but sees everything through a narrow scope. But then slowly, she learns that she knew next to nothing about the people around her and their motivations until she is forced to re-evaluate everything and everyone. People's true selves come to the surface in times of war and loss. She learns most of all that she didn't really know herself, either.

All in all, this was an amazing and captivating story filled with action, suspense, and much character development set against a small southern town during the Civil War years. My only niggle is that I wanted more of Amrie's story beyond the ending point. I highly recommend this book to those who love Civil War era historical fiction and those who want authentic women's history.

I received this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

***I received a copy of this book on netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, Severn House.***

First, I need to say that I fully expected to love this book. I'm into historical fiction and the Civil War period in particular. I was so surprised that this was a total miss for me. I just couldn't get into. I did not finish the book but read about one third of the way through it. Here are my thoughts:

- SUCH a slow start. At one third of the way in, we were just getting into the conflict of the book. That is way too long.
- I have not read the author's previous books, unlike many of the other reviewers. This probably contributed to how long I was willing to stick with the story.
- I wanted to get the story of the main character's life (Amrie), but the author puts in such many broad-perspective moments about the wider war that it ruined the flow for me.
- The dialogue was very inconsistent. Either the characters spoke in dialect or in perfectly constructed long, insightful paragraphs.
- Too many foreshadowing moments. This works better in mystery than in every chapter of historical fiction.

I won't be posting a review on my blog about this one. Better luck next time, C.S. Harris!

[Lori (on hiatus, life is crazy busy)) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always enjoyed reading about the Civil War and this book was a real eye opener! When we think of the American Civil War, we think of the long fought battles, all the young and old lives that were lost, and of the damage that was done to our country. This book shows another side to the Civil War. This story is told by a coming of age girl named Amrie and tells of the horrible injustices that fell upon those left behind. The women, the children, the elderly and the freed slaves. She describes in great detail the brutality that is endured. Towns and village's burned to the ground, homes and lives lost. Soldiers pillaging and plundering their way through every home no matter if they were rich or poor. The hardships of deprivation. As Amrie tells her story, you feel yourself being pulled in and feeling your heart break with each turn of the page. This is one story that will stay with me for a very long time.
I applaud the author on delivering such a harsh tale of the realities of what the War did to those left behind. They too should be recognized as heroes! Thank you to the author for all her in depth research into this subject!

[Ladiibbug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical Fiction - American Civil War

C.S. Harris's Sebastian St. Cyr historical mystery series is among my favorites. With each book, she meets the incredibly high bar set by previous books for a superb read, engaging characters, a pull-y0u-in-immediately plot -- she is an outstanding author.

This book is a new stand alone, set in Louisiana during the Civil War. Amrie, our female narrator, is an energetic, curious 11 year old, who loves to explore with her friend Finn. Everything changes when the Federal fleet arrives in the area of her "sleepy little village". Through Amrie's eyes, the story of the effects of the Civil War on Southern women and children is told.

As usual, Ms. Harris's book is a wonderful piece of writing, very well researched, and engrossing.

Normally I never would have picked up a book about the Civil War. All books involving war as the main story disturb me, but the Civil War, with the horrors and injustice of slavery, is particularly difficult and enraging.

I am glad to have read this book -- not because I have one iota of agreement or sympathy for the South's side -- but it dealt frankly and openly with issues regarding slavery in the South that I wasn't aware of. The women and children (who were not slaveholders) left behind while their men went to war faced increasingly difficult hardships as the years of war went by.

The Civil War was a brutal and perhaps the darkest time in American history. Extreme hardships were experienced by both the North and South. In his superb book April 1865: The Month That Saved America Jay Winik, I particularly remember Northern soldiers freezing to death, and eating their own shoes due to lack of food.

I continue to hope that each new generation sheds the remnants of racism more quickly than the previous generations, until all people realize we are all one -- human.

[Miki · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Civil War period is not one I've ever been really interested in. No special reason, that time period just didn't appeal to me. This book may have changed that. I only read it because I like the author and her previous books, especially the Sebastian St. Cyr series. Anyway, this one is a treasure, and I highly recommend it. It's not a scholarly tome, but a very well-written account of war's effects on the common people.

Amrie is 11 years old when the War Between the States begins. Her father has already gone to serve, along with most of the young men in the area. All that are left are the women, children and old men. This story is about how they got through the war. The bigger battles may have been elsewhere, but the war itself is omnipresent. Hunger and want are never far away, especially as time goes on, and Federal soldiers zero in on the people of St. Francisville and Sara Bayou, Louisiana.

Amrie often wonders how men with families and children and who profess to be Godly can do the things that the Feds do to other families. They steal, burn, break, rape and kill, often because for no other reason than that they can. I'm sure the Confederate soldiers were just as bad, but this book is not about them. However, it IS about the universal experience of war itself, and the monsters that war makes out of human beings. Think of Bosnia and Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, and the countless other people and places that men have destroyed just because they want something that belongs to someone else.

[Pat · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book--the premise, of the women left at home during the Civil War and how they coped, sounded interesting, especially since it was set in the South. However---the book was just atrocity after atrocity, horrors, rapes, pillaging, and all other kinds of dark and awful happenings. I understand that life, especially in the South, was brutal and horrible during the war for the women and families left on their own. However, that is all that the author focuses on. There are hardly any gleams or glimmers of good things--just darkness and more darkness. The only good time coming with this book for me was the end. I found it disturbing, depressing, and something I can't recommend.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me, I would have preferred seeing the Civil War playing out in Louisiana through the eyes of the mother rather than her young daughter. I don't know if this is meant for a young audience, but if so, it probably works. So, our Civil War in the South was ugly and this book details how the Union soldiers behaved toward the civilian population. The author's notes reveal extensive research, and I know the author lives in Louisiana and this does show.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was often difficult to read; it dealt with very harsh realities concerning women in the war-torn South during the US Civil War. I often had to put it aside and read something lighter.

Still, it was well worth the time spent. Amrie is a young girl in St. Francisville, Louisiana; her father is in the Confederate army. Her family are abolitionists, but her father feels duty-bound to go to war. So, the perspective we see is of a small family and their freed slaves trying to survive through some absolutely awful times.

Food shortages caused by commandeering of livestock and destruction of crops by Union troops are only the beginning of what the women of the town experience. Precious belongings are stolen or destroyed, including medicines, and rape is far more frequent than people would like to acknowledge.

The author relied heavily on primary source documents such as women's letters and journals from the time in order to build the world around Amrie and her neighbors. The book is beautifully written and the characters are complex and believable.

I highly recommend reading this book, but know that it will sometimes be tough going as it shows the harsh realities faced by those holding down the home front in a war that many did not want.

[Becky Patterson]

(One of those lucky, random picks at my local library: Started it on a rainy Friday afternoon and finished it the next morning.)
The young daughter of a doctor's wife is thrown into the chaos of the advancing Civil War, slavery, death and survival. With fathers and sons swept up in the war women are left to fend for themselves and try to help in the only ways they can.
Intriguing, satisfying page after page kept me steadfastly "in" their story and the secrets they were forced to keep during the devastation of their homes and properties by federal troops. Historical fiction at its finest.

[Anna]

"In my experience, when folks don't want to talk about something, it's because it's either too embarrassing or too painful to remember."

"...life is capricious. We can never know the outcome of our actions or decisions, and the idea that we can control our lives is more often than not an illusion. All we can do is what we think is right, and acknowledge that sometimes things will turn out horribly anyway."

[Rachel-Leah · Rating 1 out of 5]

While I absolutely love C.S. Harris and the Sebastian St. Cyr mystery series, this book definitely does not share that same love. Unfortunately, I found this book to be extremely dry and slow and while there were some interesting historical facts, the storyline and the characters were so boring that I just couldn't care about the historical value of the story. What a bummer.

[Mi3sprouts · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a well written book & it is quite different than the series of books I have previously read by the author. It was a challenging book to read for a few reasons. The atrocities of slavery are very difficult to read about, but the savage nature of the civil war and what happened to families & fellow citizens adds to the barbarity of the time. The ending helped bring closure to the book, but I am still thinking about how brutal a time it was for our country.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have put off writing the final review of this book for several months while it continued to percolate inside me. In the end, I think it will rate highly when I look back at the books I've read this year despite its many and extreme flaws. That's because the story has stayed with me so strongly - and that alone made reading it worthwhile.
War is hell. And in this book hell comes to a small town in northern Louisiana along the Mississippi River. At first it's just the growing deprivations brought on by the Union blockade, but then the Union troops arrive. Young Amrie (a stereotypical smart unladylike girl who won't take no for an answer) learns all the horrible things men at war can do to your town, your home, and to you. And C.S. Harris makes a strong case for just how horrible the Union army was, and it's something Northerners need to understand. They raped and they pillaged, often with the complete complicity of their commanders. It also shows rape for the way it was treated - a crime that literally no one dared to talk about. The ultimate invasion. The ultimate shame. No woman would or could admit to it happening to her. Many victims believed themselves so sullied that suicide seemed the only option. Where I disagree with Harris is in her contention that Union men purposely raped Confederate women as a method of emasculating southern men. Sorry - I just don't believe that the armies of that time (or frankly any previous time) had the psychoanalytic ability to come up with this as an actual military tactic.
Harris's offers a unique and somewhat troubling pro-Confederacy/anti-slavery story line. It seems like a fine way to have your cake and eat it too. The protagonist's Louisiana family freed all their slaves, but the father goes to fight for the Confederates because he feels "honor bound." The author points out repeatedly that there were free blacks who owned slaves, which is true - but the numbers were small relative to white slave owners and still does nothing to remove the horror of one human being owning another. There was also a high percentage of free blacks in Louisiana, and Harris makes use of this with the character of the blacksmith, who of course is fairly well-respected despite his color.
The numerous typos and errors drove me crazy: "He had always opposed succession." Really? Was there no editor to point out this should have been "secession"? And why would an American author writing a book printed in the U.S. choose to use British punctuation?
After reading all of this, I'm tempted to take my rating down to 3 stars, but I won't. As I wrote, it's a story that sticks with you.

[Ann-Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

EVERY AMERICAN WOMAN SHOULD READ THIS BOOK.

C. S. Harris should get the Medal of Freedom, or some other big-ass prize for this elegant historically accurate book. If you think your liberal, read this. If you're social conservative read this. If you are a person of color, read this.

And for all those who think they understand the term "Black Irish" read this book.

To understand collateral damage in war, read this book.

And then share it.

I chose to read this because I have loved all the Sebastian St. Cyr novels, so I expected great prose and plot. I was not prepared for how this book moved me and informed me.

[Laraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is touted as being a novel of the American Civil War and it is, but it is also mainly about the Southern women and their children and old folks who were left behind when the men when off to fight. When the war is brought to them, these women and children showed what they were made of. We meet 11 year old Amrie St. Pierre and journey with her through the 4 years of privation, raids, rape, starvation, disease and hardship that was their lot. A well written, haunting read. 4 stars.

[Ali · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not sure why this book couldn't hold my interest. Could be all that I have going on in my life right now and not so much to do with the book. I might pick it up again sometime in the future but, for now, it just didn't do much for me.

[Jill E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-researched, very good book

I am a longtime fan of CS Harris‘s murder mystery series. And I was excited to read this because she is such an excellent writer.

First and foremost, I must admit that the extent of research Harris conducted was obvious throughout the book, but effortlessly woven into the plot development. As a woman raised primarily in the North—believing how “good” and well-intentioned the Union was—I was appalled and distraught to learn that many of the Union soldiers (actions often condoned by superior officers) were terrible men who wreaked havoc on women and children left behind in the face of the Civil War, as well as freed slaves, and any Black men pressed into service by the Confederate army. (It can’t, however, be said that the Confederate soldiers were much better in their ravaging of defenseless women and children and Blacks who served the Union army for their freedom. There were also Southern bushwhackers and criminals—many who had been released from prisons by the Union army—who found a land ripe for the picking with the men away at war; they stole not only food and valuables, but they also raped women—as did many of the members of the Union army; and both sides also took or killed livestock, and often destroyed homes, even burning them to the ground during the winter months.

This is a story about the women in a community in a small town along the Mississippi River that forged a way survive in face of the many trials and heartaches they faced with no one to defend them.

Amrie is the main character, and she begins the story with a dark statement about having killed a man as a young girl,… She is 11 when the story begins and 15 when the story ends. And in that time, through her eyes, we are witnesses to the horrors that men visit upon each other in pursuing twisted dreams of honor, glory, and righteous anger. And how those actions have horrific repercussions on the women left behind. (A great deal of what was excused by the Confederacy regarding slavery is delivered in a speech by visiting preacher. It was galling, as we learn from Amrie mother, a staunch abolitionist. I now understand my own naïveté thinking that this was the main reason for the Civil War: I came away from this book with the knowledge that so much was also about the political machine that operated within the United States, a tune that forced innocents and people of good conscience to try to acclimate to the evil and impossible set of circumstances that drove that conflict. (Has anything changed?)

The reader sees the split that the Civil War caused between family members as one of Amrie’s uncles fights for the Union, while the others fight for the Confederacy.

We see the dark nature of human beings that is so often hidden when people are behaving according to the norms of respectable society. In the midst of war, all bets are off and for many, many men, there was nothing to stop them from doing the most horrific things. In some ways, this is an extremely timely book.

The tale had the feel of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, in that it is a coming-of-age story of a young girl. It takes place in the South; Blacks are seen as chattel/belongings; and white men on both sides demonstrate their feelings of privilege because of the color of their skin.

The characters are very well developed. The pacing and structure of the story are outstanding. There are moments of sadness and hopelessness; however, the biggest difference between this story and Harris‘ Regency-set Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries is that this often-tragic story is based on facts and cannot be ignored as fiction can be. Just haunting—especially after reading the Author‘s Notes.

I don’t know what I expected from the book beyond excellent writing, but this book was such an education for me. It’s easy to see that no matter where human beings find themselves in time, there is a struggle regarding ideologies, religious perceptions, and the desire to be powerful, “right”, and victorious.

There IS hope in the story—in the women’s tenacity. And while not every woman in the community is a model of decency, we are also reminded that people are not always what they seem; that people carry the weight of the past of which no one is aware… And that often times we should assume that everyone is doing the best he or she can, even when one is unpleasant.

I only wish that the ending had had a little bit more substance. I felt as if the story’s conclusion did not provide enough closure for me. However, it is an excellent story.

The books is still with me days later, so “haunting” (I can find no other apt word), as I reflect upon the ways these women adjusted, made do with what little they had, and came together as a force to be reckoned with to protect each other. And that strength is the highlight of the story.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Time Coming is a powerful story of survival, a coming-of-age story that has made me see the Civil War from a different prospective. Where one usually reads from the point of view of either the North or South this book stays away from the political aspects and rather the reader gets a truly authentic look at those left at home.

Amrie is only 12 years old when this story begins. With wonderful dialogue, vivid descriptions and a touch of humor it wasn't hard getting to know her and to become completely enraptured with her character. She is curious, adventurous and constantly on the move, this war forces her to growup and leave her childhood behind.

"The idea that someone could take all this from me - my sense of identity, my connection to ancestors I'd never known, the image of my dead brother - made me feel anxious and vulnerable in a way I'd never before realized I was. It also made me quietly, powerfully, and enduringly furious....But such wishings came from the imagination of a child, and my childhood was rapidly slipping away from me."

Amrie is telling the story here and she does it flawlessly. There are many layers to Good Time Coming and she is able to convey how this conflict affects not just her family but the lives of those around her giving the reader a truly realistic and heartbreaking view of this war.

What stands out for me in this book is the authors writing, she was able to connect me with all the characters and situations, to feel empathy for the struggles and what they were forced to endure while the men were of fighting this war. At times some of it was hard to take in it but this was a realistic look at the American Civil War. The descriptions made it easy not just to visualize but feel what was taking place.

"I suppose the point is, life is capricious. We can never know the outcome of our actions or decisions, and the idea that we can control our lives is more often than not an illusion. All we can do is what we think is right, and acknowledge that sometimes things will turn out horribly wrong anyway."

While this book had a fitting conclusion I can't help but miss Amrie and would love to see what happens next in her life, one can always hope for a sequel. This is my first time reading anything by CS Harris and she has a new fan, her Sebastian St. Cyr series is already patiently waiting in my tbr pile.

As a big fan of audio books I feel, with the right reader, that this would work perfectly in that format. Thank you to the Severn House Publishers for an advanced copy via Netgalley.

[RMazin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Time Coming (from a Stephen Foster song hoping for peace) is an ironically titled coming of age book. Amrie is a young girl growing up in the sleepy backwater community along the Mississippi in Louisiana during the Civil War in 1862. Her, father, a doctor has gone off to join the Confederacy, although he does not truly believe in its mission. But he knows there will be wounded men who need him. He leaves behind his wife, who is his helpmate and a healer and his daughter.

Amrie is not even thirteen when the opening sentence reveals she has killed a man. How did this happen? The author takes us back in time to the innocence of young Amrie before the arrival of Union soldiers and before young men joined the Confederacy. The hope is that the war will be short and not affect this small bayou area. But war knows no boundaries.

Amrie becomes witness to the atrocities associated with war. There are vindictive soldiers, marauders, neighbors turning on neighbors, pillaging, rape, fires, gunfire, torture, and shortages of clothing, food and medicine. This is not a genteel tale of the South but a visceral chronicle of deprivation and depravity. There is no way to escape and in Amrie’s world, she daily sees everything become even worse.

As a resource for this novel, C. S. Harris used diaries and documentation to explore the affects of the Civil War on a civilian population of the old, the ill, women and children. These are the ones who are always left behind during armed conflict. She portrays a South with the same intensity of an Andersonville novel.

One’s heart breaks for Amrie, for her loss of innocence and her entire world. Yet, there is much to admire in her resiliency in spite of tremendous odds. This is not a book you will forget. This is a book that should ignite compassion for those around the world who daily face similar circumstances. But do not think this is a political tome, above all this book and Amrie has heart and an enduring hope. Highly recommended.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really wish books were properly proofread. It's the only real complaint I have about this one but it was pretty bad to go halfway through a book on the American civil war with "canons" instead of "cannons" and there were quite a number of individual errors all through.
However, that being said this was a fantastic read. Many women in the South were able to preside over their households while slaves or free servants did all the work. Somehow this came to be the measure for what "home" should be like so that when circumstances changed these women were not able to change their practices. I do not understand how all these men could march off to war leaving their wives and mothers alone and have no understanding of what the passage of war did to their lives. MS Harris describes one woman who was virtually starving but who received adamant orders from her absent husband that on no account was she to take a job as the local school teacher. It would be shaming for her to do so. What her starvation would be is not addressed. Of course, as well as smiling as the men left you were also not to whine in your letters about home conditions so perhaps there was fault on both sides.
She certainly draws a horrific picture of conditions during Federal control. The northern soldiers are portrayed as hateful thieves and murderers with no compassion at all for the women and children who were the chief inhabitants of these small riverside towns and I do not doubt what she says for a minute since the policy seems to have been to bring the South to its knees by whatever means was required but they don't seem to have set a line anywhere.
Someone in the book says that war is a community wide state of insanity and that is certainly true.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story line: 3 stars. Awareness of the extent of civilian trauma in Mississippi and Louisiana during the Civil War: 5 stars. This novel follows Amrie and her mother through the Civil War years. Amrie grows from a tween to a teen and her awareness of the characters of the women who surround her likewise grows. The story details local sieges and battles and their effect on towns close to the fighting. What was fascinating and very disheartening was how much looting and raping was done on a routine basis by the Union Army. Enslaved humans and free people of color are also followed as they are impressed into back-breaking labor for the Federal army whose war tactics were not always up to the challenge of fighting from the Mississippi River.
What was irritating to me was the incessant foreshadowing final sentence in each chapter. This could be a character trait of the protagonist but it was incessant in the book. The number of different stories told was overwhelming and numbing at times. For most characters, there was little depth or complexity. The book is more a simple account of the lives of women and children during the Civil War. I initially thought that the constant threat of looting was overdone- until I read the Author's Notes.
The Author's Notes outline the research done by C. S. Harris who has a doctorate in European History. It was then that I saw that she attempted to document the story of women found in their diaries and letters. She makes a compelling argument about the true count of rape as a weapon of the Civil War. For that alone, I am grateful that she opened my eyes to an era I thought I knew well.

[Verna LaBounty · Rating 4 out of 5]

The graceful river town of St. Francisville, Louisiana, has known little of the hardships, death, and destruction of the War. But with the fall of New Orleans, all changes. A Federal fleet appears on the Mississippi, and it isn't long before the depredations and attacks begin.

For one Southern family the dark blue uniform of the Union army is not the only thing they fear. A young girl stops a vicious attack on her mother and the town must pull together to keep each other safe. But a cryptic message casts doubt amongst the townsfolk. Is there a traitor in the town and can anybody be trusted?

Twelve-year-old Amrie and her family have never felt entirely accepted by their neighbors, due to their vocal abolitionist beliefs. But when Federal forces lay siege to the nearby strongholds of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, the women and children of St. Francisville find themselves living in a no mans land between two warring armies. Realizing they must overcome their differences and work together to survive, they soon discover strengths and abilities they never knew they possessed, and forge unexpected friendships.

As the violence in the area intensifies, Amrie comes to terms with her own capacity for violence and realizes that the capacity for evil exists within all of us. And when the discovery of a closely guarded secret brings the wrath of the Federal army down on St. Francisville, the women of St. Francisville, with whom Amrie and her mother have shared the war years many deprivations and traumas, now unite and risk their own lives to save them.