The Yankee Widow: A Novel

by Linda Lael Miller

Overview

"Moving and memorable, this novel reveals the impossible choices women face in wartime.” —James Patterson

"A must read for historical fiction fans."—Publishers Weekly

New York Times bestelling author Linda Lael Miller has created a richly emotional novel about one woman’s courage and the choices she must make in the face of a dangerous war.

Caroline, the young wife of Jacob, a Union solider away at war, is raising their daughter alone on the family farm just outside of Gettysburg. Word arrives that her husband is wounded, so she travels to Washington City to find him. When Jacob succumbs, she brings his body home on the eve of the deadliest battle of the war. With troops and looters roaming the countryside, it is impossible for her to know who is friend and who is foe. Caroline fights to protect those she loves while remaining compassionate to the neediest around her, including two strangers from opposite sides of the war. Each is wounded. Each is drawn to her kindness. Both offer comfort, but only one secretly captures her heart. Still, she must resist exposing her vulnerability in these uncertain times when so much is at risk.

In The Yankee Widow, gifted storyteller Linda Lael Miller explores the complexities and heartbreak that women experienced as their men took up arms to preserve the nation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780778309543
Publisher:	MIRA Books
Publication date:	06/29/2021
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	448
Sales rank:	662,184
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 7.80(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Linda Lael Miller is a #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of more than one hundred novels. Long passionate about the Civil War buff, she has studied the era avidly and has made many visits to Gettysburg, where she has witnessed reenactments of the legendary clash between North and South. Linda explores that turbulent time in The Yankee Widow.

Date of Birth:

June 10, 1949

Website:

https://www.lindalaelmiller.com/

Editorial Reviews

"Moving and memorable, this novel reveals the impossible choices women face in wartime." –James Patterson, New York Times bestselling author

"A must-read for historical fiction fans"—Publishers Weekly

"The background of this most divisive chapter in our country's history is marvelously depicted..."—Library Journal

"Well told and readers will keep turning the pages."—Booklist

"Linda Lael Miller creates vibrant characters and stories I defy you to forget."—Debbie Macomber, #1 New York Times bestselling author

From the Publisher

03/25/2019

Miller (A Lawman’s Christmas), a prolific romance author, delves into historical fiction with this revealing Civil War–era story detailing the devastating impact of the war. Union soldier Jacob Hammond is wounded at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1963, but his wife, Caroline, doesn’t find out for nearly six weeks that he has been taken to the hospital in Washington, D.C. Once she finds him, Jacob dies within hours. Caroline returns to their family farm outside Gettysburg, Penn., and arranges for Jacob’s funeral. When the Battle of Gettysburg rages nearby, Caroline relies on the help of Enoch Flynn, a freed slave who works on her farm, to help treat the wounded. Union commander Capt. Rogan McBride asks Caroline to care for Captain Bridger Winslow, Rogan’s old friend who also happens to be a Confederate soldier wounded in the battle. The attraction between Bridger and Caroline grows during his recovery, though she knows that there is little chance for a future between them. Miller balances character and history well and keeps the pages turning with a fast-paced plot. This is a must-read for historical fiction fans. (May)

Publishers Weekly

2019-02-18

In Miller's (Just Kate, 2018, etc.) Civil War novel, Caroline Hammond lives on a farm near Gettysburg, where she has not even had time to mourn her husband's death in the Union Army before the war comes close.

After she hears her husband, Jacob, was wounded at Chancellorsville, Caroline goes to Washington, D.C., where Army quartermaster Capt. Rogan McBride helps her find him in a makeshift hospital. She manages to arrive before Jacob dies, the first of a series of improbabilities that propel this book. She returns to the farm, where her husband's friend and hired man, former slave Enoch Flynn, helps her bury Jacob and tells Caroline he has taken in Jubie, a pregnant runaway slave, after helping her escape a slave catcher. Not long after, Capt. McBride arrives with supplies to store at Hammond Farm during the impending battle of Gettysburg. McBride happens to run into his best friend from military school, Capt. Bridger Winslow, during the battle, rescues him, and brings him to the farm to recover from his wounds along with dozens of other wounded soldiers. Predictably, both captains fall for Caroline, Enoch and Jubie fall for each other, and other threads of the story are tied up neatly, hurried along by further coincidences. Miller peppers the book with overused phrases, such as "precious child," and "the lonesome whistle of a faraway train." She also threads her story with too much exposition, such as telling Jacob's story for 10 pages while he's lying wounded on the battlefield. Also predictably, the characters act according to type: Capt. Winslow is a Southern rake, Caroline, a sweet and stoic widow, and so on.

An uninspiring historical romance.

Kirkus Reviews