Daughter of the Regiment~ Book Review

Daughter of the Regiment by Stephanie Grace Whitson

This is a delightful book! Stephanie has successfully woven historical fact with the fictitious Malone family, an Irish immigrants living on a small farm in Little Dixie, Missouri, in 1861, approximately one month after the Civil War had started.   Little Dixie is a historic 13- to 17-county region of mid-to-upper-mid Missouri along the Missouri River, settled at first primarily by migrants from the hemp and tobacco districts of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee.    During the war, Missouri was claimed by both the Union and the Confederacy, had two competing state governments, and sent representatives to both the United States Congress and the Confederate Congress.(from Wikipedia)

The other main, or co-star character in the book is Libbie, a true Southern belle, wealthy, and living with her abusive brother, Walker, on their plantation.  Stephanie’s descriptions of Libbie, her way of talking, her mannerisms, are all accurate reflections of how women were in the South. Part of the war ends up taking place on their plantation, Wildwood Grove.

Feelings and characters of the plantation slaves have an honest light shown on them.  I liked the way the author presented their points of views.

The Civil War scenes are intense.  Her descriptions of the fights on the  battlefields are vivid.   She gives just enough details of the war to keep interest going, yet she doesn’t get overly graphic.  Realistic, but not without hope and courageous acts by others.

If you like Christian historical fiction, and the Civil War, this is a must-read!

Romans 10:9-13;  John 3:16-21

No Ocean Too Wide ~ Book review

No Ocean Too Wide, by Carrie Turansky, is a riveting story of a family in England caught up in the wretched child immigration scheme of the British Home Children,  in the early 1900s.  She includes an impressive amount of facts to make this Christian historical fiction one of the most compelling reads I’ve encountered in a while on the subject of orphans, and cold-hearted money-making schemes involving basically, the trafficking of children.

They either took them from homes under questionable pretenses, or brought them in from the streets, and then put them on a ship bound for Canada, to live as a domestic servant in someone’s home.  Ages as young as 5, and as old as 17, I believe, were forced to work as drudges, in many cases.

The characters in her book are Laura McAlister, and her siblings Garth, Katie, and Grace.  Their mother, and their father, the neighbor Mrs. Graham,  and Mrs. Palmer, the employee of Laura’s mother.

Andrew Bolton is also a key character.  He is a wealthy lawyer, and he and his friend are sent, by the British government,to  investigate the goings-on of the children’s orphanages.  Suspicion had arisen because of one Dr. Barnardo, who supposedly took in hundreds of abandoned children from the streets of England, and gave them food, shelter, and useful skills. Dr. Barnardo was constantly in and out of court.

This is a great historical lesson which helps bring awareness on one of Britain’s unsavory and repugnant chapters.  I do recommend this for reading.  Geared for adult comprehension, not really on a level that a teen or child would be able to grasp the significance of.

Hurricane Dorian

PRAISE GOD!  When Dorian came here, it was far enough off the coast to not be a real threat.  THANK YOU< JESUS!!  Hallelujah!

Hurricane Dorian:

Sustained winds:  185 mph

central pressure, 911 mb

This is the most evil storm I’ve ever seen.  Compare it to catastrophic hurricane Andrew,

remember that? Andrew made another landfall just northeast of Homestead, with a slightly lower pressure of 922 mbar (27.23 inHg).

Lowest pressure: 922 mbar (hPa);

Highest winds: 1-minute sustained: 175 mph …

Remember IRMA?  Early on September 6, Irma peaked with 1-minute sustained winds of 180 mph (285 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 914 hPa (27.0 inHg). Irma was the second-most intense tropical cyclone worldwide in 2017 in terms of barometric pressure, and the strongest worldwide in 2017 in terms of wind speed.

Romans 10:8-13

John 3:16-21