Painted Trillium by Robert Brandt

The Civil War impacted families in different ways.  It devastated families, caused brothers to fight on opposite sides and made people do unconventional things in order to survive and remain sane.  This author gives you an inside look at what it would be like to live at that time.  Carrie is a young woman who lost her fiance during the war.  Now she intends to teach school and be an independent woman.  But plans don't always work out...

Wandering in the Words Press sent me a copy of this book to read for review (thank you).  It has been published so you can pick up a copy now.

Mr. Brandt writes well.  You feel like you're living in the Civil War days.  I found it very easy to understand his characters and their motivation.  This was almost like sitting at the kitchen table and listening to someone tell a tale.  It flows well and goes down smoothly.  He doesn't sugar coat anything, which is refreshing.

Carrie lost her father and her brother and fiance to the war.  She's helping her mother run the household and doing a lot of the chores herself.  The days of maids and cooks are gone.  She watches her girlfriends raise children by themselves, others marry men who have children but are a widower, and Carrie stays at home.

Even staying home is not safe.  When she travels to visit a friend and returns home, she meets a General.  He's kind and nice to her.  When she tells him the tale of their three pigs being carted off by soldiers, he assigns as officer to look into it.  The officer visits and finds her company enjoyable.  They chat a lot, both of them love reading, and she loans books to the officer to read while back at camp. The war is still going on around them but they've carved a quiet niche for the two of them.

War takes its toll again and Carrie is alone again.  She's a strong independent woman and doesn't give up.  It's a good thing that she's takes her joy where she can find it.  Despite the sadness and loss life has given her, she still has hope.  Her hope is rewarded and that made me happy.

This was a very good read.