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Book Reviewed by:A love story, a story of racial divide, and a story of the South as it fell in the war, The Second Mrs. Hockaday reveals how this generation - and the next - began to see their world anew.
When Major Gryffth Hockaday is called to the front lines of the Civil War, his new bride is left to care for her husband's three-hundred-acre farm and infant son. Placidia, a mere teenager herself living far from her family and completely unprepared to run a farm or raise a child, must endure the darkest days of the war on her own. By the time Major Hockaday returns two years later, Placidia is bound for jail, accused of having borne a child in his absence and murdering it. What really transpired in the two years he was away?
Inspired by a true incident, this saga unfolds with gripping intensity, conjuring the era with uncanny immediacy. Amid the desperation of wartime, Placidia sees the social order of her Southern homeland unravel. As she comes to understand how her own history is linked to one runaway slave, her perspective on race and family are upended.
3982 Glenn Springs Road,
GLENN SPRINGS, SOUTH CAROLINA
September 29, 1865
Dear Millie, Dr. Gordon knew my father when they were students at South Carolina College. He did not realize whose daughter I was when he performed the examination of my baby's remains; that is how I am assured of his objectivity, a rare attribute in local people of my acquaintance. While the extent of decomposition prevented a conclusive cause of death, the doctor reports that the child did not suffer trauma, and while drowning or suffocation cannot be entirely ruled out, he concludes that he most likely died of exposure. It was not the doctor's opinion that I exposed the baby intentionally — that accusation comes from the magistrate. The doctor asked to speak to me, however, after examining the remains, and that is when we discovered our connection. I learned what an empathetic man he is (also rare). When Dr. Gordon's son was fighting at Second Manassas, his young wife, unbeknownst to her ...
Here are some of the comments posted about The Second Mrs. Hockaday in our legacy forum.
You can see the full discussion here.
Consider Placidia's relationships with other women in the novel. Who does she have conflict with? Who does she bond with? Why?
I think she was wise in knowing who she could trust and who she couldn't. Race wasn't the issue—the women she didn't trust were hateful and not just to her. - jamiek
Discuss Achilles' decision to read his mother's diary. Would you have done the same?
I would have even if I was warned not too. Unfortunately, I am not one to hold on to something and not look at it. Don't trust me with Pandora's Box... - andreab
Do you feel sympathy toward Major Hockaday's behavior when he returns from the war?
Yes, I felt sympathy for him. Thoughts of his wife got him through the war. But he eventfully came home to a wife that he felt betrayed her. He was only human so what was he to think especially when his wife would not explain herself. Love doesn't ... - bettyt
Do you think Abner and Nerissa have a future together?
I like to think so. There weren't a whole lot of happy endings at that time, so I like to think that they should have made a future together. - jeannew
How did reading The Second Mrs Hocking add to or change your understanding of the events of the Civil War?
I never thought about the women left behind that much except for my reading of Gone with the Wind. This book made me more aware of the struggles of these women. I imagine it was difficult for the women in the North too but they may have faced other ... - dorothyl
Told in haunting and moving prose through journal entries and correspondence, this story based on actual events tells of a newly married young woman left home alone with just the servants and her husband's infant son after her officer husband is called back to fight for the Confederacy. Returning home years later, he finds his wife has been accused of a horrible crime of which she will not speak. It's at once a love story, a history lesson and a beautifully written tale of forgiveness...continued
Full Review
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(Reviewed by First Impressions Reviewers).
Alice LaPlante, author of A Circle of Wives
Her deeply sympathetic characters cope with the hard truths of slavery and war, maintaining their humanity and capability for redemption throughout. A thoroughly engrossing and affecting read. Diane Chamberlain, author of The Silent Sister
Told through exquisitely crafted letters and diary entries, the delicious pacing leads to revelations both intriguing and unnerving. I was sorry to reach the end of this stunning debut. Hillary Jordan, author of Mudbound
I gobbled this book up in one sitting, wishing I could slow down and savor the prose but too eager to find out what happened. Rivers is an unflinching truth teller. Her characters are deeply human, drawn with compassion and exquisite detail.
In The Second Mrs. Hockaday, Susan Rivers' historical novel about the Civil War, Mr. Hockaday says to his new wife: "... there's an Armory in Holland Crossroads. A market hall in Traveler's Joy. In Charleston, it's the Sugar House. It's where servants are sent to be corrected." This novel, of course, like all historical novels, is based on true events and Rivers did her research for it using a number of documents. One document is an 1838 article written by a slave who was detained for three months in the Sugar House, a part of the Charleston city jail, located in South Carolina. The article, titled "Recollections of a Runaway Slave", was published in an abolitionist newspaper based in Maine, the Advocate of Freedom.
The Sugar House &#...
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If you liked The Second Mrs. Hockaday, try these:
by Nathan Harris
Published 2022
A profound debut about the unlikely bond between two freedmen who are brothers and the Georgia farmer whose alliance will alter their lives, and his, forever.
Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen
by Sarah Bird
Published 2020
The compelling, hidden story of Cathy Williams, a former slave and the only woman to ever serve with the legendary Buffalo Soldiers.
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