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The Ashes of our fathers
"It is the fall of 1864, and the Civil War has returned to middle Tennessee. Joe Williams, a soldier in John Bell Hood's Rebel Army, is marching ever closer to his hometown of Franklin. With the war winding into it final bloody months, Joe begins grappling with his own troubled past: A soured relationship with his father, festering blood feuds, and lost love. As a major confrontation with Union forces draws near, he marches back into the Franklin Valley and into the center of one of the war's deadliest engagements."
489 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2017
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January 11, 2023
Move over Widow of the South
This was a good read that moved along at a moderate pace but the last 100 or so pages really picked up and made it worth it. Tear-rending ending which was appropriate for a book about war, broken relationships, a McCoy-Hatfield type feud (which you wish ended with the "good guy" besting the "bad guy" in the end...but did not), a host of young men being mangled and killed on the battlefield and young women back home lost in yearning (all culminating on the bloody field of Franklin). As a student of this battle having read non-fiction accounts (the best still being Five Tragic Hours) and fictional accounts (The Widow of the South), I believe I can state with an honest, educated opinion...move aside Widow of the South, this book blows that book away. Its a shame that the authors with more funding and larger publishers get all the plaudits when lesser known authors with smaller publishers get far less attention. Despite this book's sometimes plodding narrative, it was much better than Widow. Just one man's opinion I suppose, but move aside Widow and make way for "The Ashes of Our Fathers" until a better work of fiction comes out concerning this oft-forgotten tragedy of our Civil War. (And by the way, there's a twist on the feud ending, but I'm not giving it away...you'll have to read it.)
This was a good read that moved along at a moderate pace but the last 100 or so pages really picked up and made it worth it. Tear-rending ending which was appropriate for a book about war, broken relationships, a McCoy-Hatfield type feud (which you wish ended with the "good guy" besting the "bad guy" in the end...but did not), a host of young men being mangled and killed on the battlefield and young women back home lost in yearning (all culminating on the bloody field of Franklin). As a student of this battle having read non-fiction accounts (the best still being Five Tragic Hours) and fictional accounts (The Widow of the South), I believe I can state with an honest, educated opinion...move aside Widow of the South, this book blows that book away. Its a shame that the authors with more funding and larger publishers get all the plaudits when lesser known authors with smaller publishers get far less attention. Despite this book's sometimes plodding narrative, it was much better than Widow. Just one man's opinion I suppose, but move aside Widow and make way for "The Ashes of Our Fathers" until a better work of fiction comes out concerning this oft-forgotten tragedy of our Civil War. (And by the way, there's a twist on the feud ending, but I'm not giving it away...you'll have to read it.)
Displaying 1 of 1 review