Publisher's Weekly Review

Inspirational fiction author Parsons (Darkness to Light series) brings to life the cruelties and ugliness of the Civil War period. Texan Amanda Belle, whose mother's dying wish was that she care for her younger siblings, finds herself falling in love with a Union soldier, Capt. Kent Littlefield. Amanda's pastor father and her brother, a Confederate soldier, forbid her budding interest in Kent, and Amanda tries to forget him. Through sorrows, setbacks, and countless losses, Amanda's tenuous faith in God blossoms, as does her strength to do what she believes is right. Interwoven throughout the love story is this Southern family's wrestling with slavery and attempting to work through its implications. Parsons's story is nothing remarkable in itself, but she does an admirable job capturing the moral plight that both Union and Confederate sympathizers must have faced throughout this terrible period in our country's history. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.