In a Dark Garden

Dr. Julian Chisholm #1

by Frank G. Slaughter

In a Dark Garden by Frank Slaughter in Hardcover.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1946

About the author

Frank Gill Slaughter , pen-name Frank G. Slaughter, pseudonym C.V. Terry, was an American novelist and physician whose books sold more than 60 million copies. His novels drew on his own experience as a doctor and his interest in history and the Bible. Through his novels, he often introduced readers to new findings in medical research and new medical technologies.

Slaughter was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Stephen Lucious Slaughter and Sarah "Sallie" Nicholson Gill. When he was about five years old, his family moved to a farm near Berea, North Carolina, which is west of Oxford, North Carolina. He earned a bachelor's degree from Trinity College (now Duke University) at 17 and went to medical school at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. He began writing fiction in 1935 while a physician at Riverside Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida.

Books by Slaughter include The Purple Quest, Surgeon, U.S.A., Epidemic! , Tomorrow's Miracle and The Scarlet Cord. Slaughter died May 17, 2001 in Jacksonville, Florida.

Reviews

[Armada Volya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I decided to read this book as a form of research. I usually prefer other genres, but since I had a romance subplot cooking up in the book I was writing, I decided to read some romance to get more familiar with it. I didn't expect to like this book, since my previous experiences with romance were bleak. To my surprise, it was actually great. I've since read another one on Frank G. Slaughter's books and loved that one too. The main reason for that is because they have a great adventure to go along with the romance. It's similar to Edgar Rice Burrows work. Both have a captivating adventure and a great love story to go along.

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a Dark Garden was written in 1946 and is one of Slaughter's earlier books. The author's North Carolina roots show as Dr. Julian Chisholm's ancestral plantation is on the Cape Fear, near Wilmington. For the time, it was fairly enlightened and didn't really romanticize The South. Julian really doesn't want the plantation or the slaves. He knows the South is on the wrong side of the war. Still, he chooses to fight for what he considers his home. During the story, he does have even more of an attitude change as he encounters Union sympathizers. I think that is what keeps the book readable now.

Of course, our hero performs new surgeries and brings a lot of more modern ideas into action. His reasoning is sound and made it believable. The romance is more of a twist. Our hero is torn between two women, and the reader gets to see how that plays out. The description of war, as seen through the eyes of a compassionate doctor, must have rung even more true just after World War II when the book was released.

I enjoyed the book. It was well-written and had an interesting story to tell. Some of the language and themes were typical of the time but fit in the story.

I need to hunt up the sequel, The Stubborn Heart.

Recommended for fans of historical fiction or medical fiction. If you enjoy both, this should be on your reading list.

[Paula Galvan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tells the story of the Civil War through the eyes of Dr. Julian Chisholm, a surgeon for the Confederate army. Julian, who was born and raised on a working plantation, chooses to support the south out of loyalty, but throughout the book, he secretly sympathizes with the Union cause. His life is further complicated by falling in love with Jane, a Union spy who commands an outfit of bushwhackers commissioned to help Union prisoners and slaves escape to the North. Although the book has plenty of action and detailed surgical scenes, the plot centers around Julian and Jane's painful romantic journey to outlast a brutal war so they can be together. Most of the book, though heartfelt and moving, is dark and depressing as the author doesn't try to hide the brutal side of this difficult period in our history.

[Susan]

1862-1865 Confederate surgeon

[Ernesto López · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me gusto, la descripción del enredo de amor y guerra que puede suceder.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gosh.

[Sue Storino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

Read several of his books years ago and this one was not quite as good but still enjoyable. The end.

[Tommie Haag · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jag har inte läst så många böcker som utspelar sig i den här settingen. Den här var väl ganska bra trots allt, även om jag inte blev blown away direkt.

[Dorothy Bakkenson · Rating 2 out of 5]

All the racist, sexist trappings of a book that over romanticizes the American South during the Civil War era. The writings on surgery were interesting, as Slaughter, the Author, was a doctor...though it increases my depression (as well as my whiskey pours) when I imagine the potential. What if Ol' Frank had put as much thoughtfulness into the development of his female characters as he had the appendectomy? We will never know. For while I have a better understanding of the lower intestine all I know of women is that "No" is not forever and breasts are often "proud" when aroused.

2 stars for gore and the insight into the male glory hound psyche.