Kirjailijakuva

Jeffrey Stayton

Teoksen This Side of the River tekijä

1 Work 8 jäsentä 2 arvostelua

Tekijän teokset

This Side of the River (2015) 8 kappaletta

Merkitty avainsanalla

Yleistieto

There is no Common Knowledge data for this author yet. You can help.

Jäseniä

Kirja-arvosteluja

The War Between the States was technically over. General Lee had surrendered at Appomattox Court House April 9, 1865. This story began in May 1865 as twenty and more widows began to follow behind a very young Captain Cat Harvey of the Texas Rangers. They were widows because General Tecumseh Sherman led some 60,000 soldiers in his “March to the Sea” from Atlanta to Savannah, burning houses and barns of Confederate fighters. This was from November 15 to December 21, 1864. The widows became determined, under Cat Harvey, to ride northward to Ohio to burn Sherman’s house to the ground just as he had done when he ravaged the homes of the south. Cat Harvey had ridden in from Texas to Georgia, toting a Gatling gun.

By the author’s note, we realize that he is expressing that Cat Harvey must have suffered from PTSD. Of course, that term was not known during / after the Civil War. Before the twentieth century, they “were said to be suffering from ‘nostalgia’ or ‘soldier’s heart.’” The narrators of this fictionalized account are numerous. Primarily, it is the widows speaking their minds to us of their loss and their will to avenge themselves and their husband’s untimely deaths. One of the first narrators, widow Metta Dahlgreen, said “I heard that there was a Texican still fighting Yankees, even after the last army had surrendered.” However, I cannot for the life of me determine just how Captain Harvey had actually come to be known, nor how it was assumed he suffered from PTSD.

The premise of this story intrigued me greatly, but unfortunately, the story didn’t live up to what I expected. Instead it was very bizarre. I can even understand realistically that Cat Harvey would have raped some of the widows. After all, rape is not a new thing. They were his followers and we’ve all heard the term, “absolute power corrupts absolutely.” That is primarily the case here. Some of the widows, for whatever reason, began to leave the group. Eventually, he found that to be unacceptable and any who were found guilty of trying to leave would be hung. During their travels, they came across a circus and many of the circus employees began to follow him. He took and rode their elephant from that point. He dressed in widows dresses, and wore clown paint. Even still, he gained followers as if the very site of him was normal. I rated This Side of the River at 2.5 out of 5.
… (lisätietoja)
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
FictionZeal | 1 muu arvostelu | Feb 21, 2015 |
This review was written for LibraryThing Member Giveaways.
I received a free copy of this book from the LibraryThing Members Giveaway in exchange for an honest review. Intriguing plot, dark and a little crazy. I loved it!
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
labrat35 | 1 muu arvostelu | Dec 31, 2014 |

Tilastot

Teokset
1
Jäseniä
8
Suosituimmuussija
#1,038,911
Arvio (tähdet)
½ 4.3
Kirja-arvosteluja
2
ISBN:t
2