Don't You Cry For Me: A Novel of the Civil War

by Judith Redline Coopey

It is late 1864 and the Civil War rages on as the South teeters on the brink of defeat. Mark Randolph, a circuit-riding minister from Georgia looking for lodging appears at the home of Susannah Lander, a poverty-stricken Quaker woman living in south central Pennsylvania. Actually a Confederate spy, Randolph's mission is to study and plan the destruction of the Horseshoe Curve, an engineering marvel that lowers the grade so that trains can scale the Alleghenies. Putting the curve out of service would send notice that the Rebels could strike anywhere to disrupt the Union’s vaunted transportation system.
Susannah rents a stable room to him even though her neighbors look upon Randolph with suspicion. She needs the money. Susannah hates slavery, despises the South and doesn’t mind a good argument, so her sharp tongue and analytical mind serve to make her tenant uncomfortable at best. So begins a connection no one would take for love, and yet… Struggling with doubts about the Confederate cause, Mark Randolph puts duty before doubt and pursues his goal, keeping up his disguise in spite of a growing attraction to this strangely outspoken and opinionated woman. Despite doubt and uncertainty on both sides, Susannah and Mark develop a deep attachment. Local suspicion and an unexplained death add to the tension, but finding a way to love your enemy takes them past the war, but it doesn’t guarantee a “happily ever after.”

256 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 1, 2019

About the author

Judith Redline Coopey, born in Altoona, PA holds degrees from the Pennsylvania State University and Arizona State University. A passion for history inherited from her father drives her writing and a love for Pennsylvania sustains it. Her first book, Redfield Farm was the story of the Underground Railroad in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. The second, Waterproof, tells how the 1889 Johnstown Flood nearly destroyed a whole city and one young woman’s life. Looking For Jane is a quest for love and family in the 1890s brought to life through the eyes of Nell, a young girl convinced that Calamity Jane is her mother. Her most recent work, The Furnace: Volume One of the Juniata Iron Trilogy, is set on an iron plantation near where she grew up and tells the story of an ill conceived marriage of convenience as it plays out over a lifetime. As a teacher, writer and student of history, Ms Coopey finds her inspiration in the rich history of her native state and in stories of the lives of those who have gone before.

Reviews

[Alice Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This author bases her stories on the western PA area in which I live. I’ve learned some interesting things about my area by reading her historical novels. This particular book takes place during the Civil War and was developed out of the author’s study of her genealogy. Her grandmother apparently married a man from the south who was later arrested as a Confederate spy. He never met the child that he fathered. There were a lot of extraneous characters who were not developed well an the ending seemed a bit contrived. But our book club liked the book and so did I.

[Donna Ruckart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, Susannah

Wonderful, rich story line. Has many twists and turns to keep the reader on the edge of your seat. Recommend this book.

[Marilyn]

Nice book. Would have loved more character development but the story is a local one and that adds a lot of interest.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every year I anticipate the arrival of another fine book by Judith Redline Coopey. I would like to give it a 5 star rating but as great as it was, it was shadowed slightly by the first book I ever read by Ms Coopey titled Waterproof: A Novel of the Johnstown Flood. I am not a native of Pennsylvania, but have happily enjoyed learning more about my newish life here by reading her books. From the Johnstown Flood to the Underground Railroad, Civil War and history of the Iron Furnaces, these characters jump out of the pages as fascinating American normal people.

Don't Cry For Me's characters are full of life and hard work, love and trouble, historical and today, real life and grit. The author took a story about the life and love of her grandmother and wove great chapters of a real Central Pennsylvania townful and Civil War full of characters of whom some I will never forget.

Thank you for another historical fiction book of your talent and heart, Ms Coopey
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