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A Novel
by Laird Hunt
Book Reviewed by:Neverhome tells the harrowing story of Ash Thompson during the battle for the South. Through bloodshed and hysteria and heartbreak, she becomes a hero, a folk legend, a madwoman and a traitor to the American cause.
She calls herself Ash, but that's not her real name. She is a farmer's faithful wife, but she has left her husband to don the uniform of a Union soldier in the Civil War. Neverhome tells the harrowing story of Ash Thompson during the battle for the South. Through bloodshed and hysteria and heartbreak, she becomes a hero, a folk legend, a madwoman and a traitor to the American cause.
Laird Hunt's dazzling new novel throws a light on the adventurous women who chose to fight instead of stay behind. It is also a mystery story: why did Ash leave and her husband stay? Why can she not return? What will she have to go through to make it back home?
In gorgeous prose, Hunt's rebellious young heroine fights her way through history, and back home to her husband, and finally into our hearts.
Neverhome will likely find a wide audience among those who read historical fiction, and its accuracy is sure to please history purists and aficionados of Civil War fiction. In Constance, Hunt has created an inimitable and unforgettable heroine who will have broad appeal, and her story will likely touch many...continued
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(Reviewed by Kim Kovacs).
Historians have documented some 400 cases of women serving as men in the American Civil War (see our review and Beyond the Book for Liar, Temptress, Solider, Spy).
Motives for their enlistment varied widely, although it would seem that most enlisted to stay with family; many were concerned that their husband, father, brother or son would die in the conflict and remain unknown or unburied. Some chose to adopt an assumed identity out of patriotism or on moral grounds, as slavery was often deemed offensive to God or, on the other side of the conflict, to be God's intention. One young woman from Brooklyn named Emily believed she was the reincarnation of Joan of Arc and so joined up in the heat of religious fervor. Economics was also a ...
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The only real blind person at Christmas-time is he who has not Christmas in his heart.
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Kevin Powers, author of The Yellow Birds
Laird Hunt's new novel is a beguiling and evocative story about love and loss, duty and deceit. Through the assured voice of his narrator and the subtle beauty of his writing, Neverhome took me on a journey so thoroughly engrossed that there were times the pages seemed to turn themselves.
