Category: Virginia Settings

Hear the Wind Blow

11/12/2018

Hear the Wind Blow by Mary Downing Hahn is set here in the Shenandoah Valley. On a cold, snowy night, Haswell Magruder makes a decision that will have a profound effect on his own life as well as the lives of all those he loves. A wounded Confederate soldier appears at the family’s Virginia farm, and Haswell convinces his mother and sister to take the man in, despite the certain repercussions if the enemy Yankees were to catch them in such a “traitorous” act. Unfortunately, this is precisely what happens, setting off a horrific chain of events that leaves Haswell’s mother dead and the farmhouse burned to the ground.

After leading his younger sister to safety with relatives in Winchester, Haswell sets out on his journey in search of his older brother, a Confederate soldier. His quest is also a passage into manhood, as he experiences the last bloody days of the Civil War.

If you enjoy Civil War stories set in Virginia, you might like the following books in the TAHS Library collection.

Fiction

Stonewall's Gold by Robert J. Mrazek
Annie, Between The States by Laura Elliot.
Ghost Cadet by Elaine Marie Alphin (Battle of New Market)
Red Moon at Sharpsburg by Rosemary Wells (Battle of Antietam)
With Every Drop of Blood by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
Sarah's Ground by Ann Rinaldi
An Acquaintance With Darkness by Ann Rinaldi (Lincoln assassination)
Drumbeat; The Story of a Civil War Drummer Boy by Robert J. Trout.
Charley Skedaddle by Patricia Beatty (Battle of the Wilderness)
Shenandoah Sisters series by Micheal R. Phillips:

Angels Watching Over Us (Book 1)
A Day to Pick Your Own Cotton (Book 2)
The Color of Your Skin A'nit the Color of Your Heart (Book 3)
Together Is All We Need (Book 4)

Shenandoah Valley Saga series by Andrea Boeshaar

A Thousand Shall Fall (Book 1)
Too Deep for Words (Book 2)

Nonfiction:

Tragedy in the Shenandoah Valley: The Story of the Summers-Koontz Execution (Nonfiction) – Robert H. Moore, II. – Though Sergeant Isaac Newton Koontz and Captain George Summers had been pardoned for their theft of Union Army horses, their executions were carried out with no trial, no judge and no jury. This tragic yet largely untold story is finally brought to light. (Incident occurred in Shenandoah County. There is a highway maker on Rt. 11.) (973.7/Moo)

The Letter writer

10/20/2014

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Every school child in America, and especially in Virginia, has heard of Nat Turner and his slave rebellion. In The Letter Writer by Ann Rinaldi, eleven-year-old Harriet Whitehead is an outsider in her own family. She feels accepted and important only when she is entrusted to write letters for her blind stepmother. Then Nat Turner, a slave preacher, arrives on her family’s plantation and Harriet befriends him. She is entranced by his gentle manner and his eloquent sermons about an all-forgiving God. When Nat asks Harriet for a map of the county to help him spread the word of God, she draws it for him. Nat, however, wants the map as part of his secret plan and makes Harriet an unwitting accomplice to the bloodiest slave uprising in U.S. history.

As always, Ms. Rinaldi has written a well researched and fascinating piece of historical fiction.

If you would like some other books about Nat Turner, try these books from the TA library:

Fiction

The Confessions of Nat Turner by Wiliam Styron

Nonfiction

Nat Turner's Slave Rebellion by Michael Burgan (in the Graphic Books Section)
Nat Turner by Terry Bisson (Biography)

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Big stone gap

4/23/2014

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Big Stone Gap by the New York Times best-selling author Andriana Trigiani is the first in a series of books set in Wise County in southwestern Virginia in the little town of Big Stone Gap. This is a poor coal mining town. The main character is Ave Maria Mulligan the "old maid" pharmacist in town. In the course of the book she finds love with coal miner Jack "Jack Mac" MacChesney. The town is full of wonderful characters and traditions.

One of my favorite episodes in the story is when the rescue squad is called to take Elizabeth Taylor Warner, wife of then Virginia Senator John Warner, to the hospital after she chokes on a chicken bone at a political rally. I remember when that actually happened. It was all over the news at the time.

If you enjoy this first book, we do have the next two books in the series:

Big Cherry Holler
Milk Glass Moon
Home to Big Stone Gap (not in library)

If you enjoy Southern fiction, you might like the following books from our library:

Cake Icing, Butt Budder, and Tea Lids by Renee Andrews
One Shenandoah Winter - T. Davis Bunn
A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash
Flora by Gail Godwin
The Kitchen House: A Novel by Kathleen Grissom
Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys
The Help by Kathryn Stockett

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The new founders

11/11/2013

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On this Veterans Day, with elections just behind us, it seems like a good time to talk about a book I read recently entitled The New Founders by Joseph F. Connor and Michael S. Duncan. The book begins with the premise “What would George Washington think of the United States of American if he were alive today?” In the book, we meet several characters who are the twenty-first century embodiments of some of our founding fathers (John and Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton) and George Washington, returned from the dead. So that you know up front, the book has very definite conservative, even Tea Party, ideas; but what drew me to it was the excellent historical fiction, not only about the beginnings of our county, but also about the rest of our history. I was also interested in the character of Jack Murray (James Madison) who is a history teacher at Turner Ashby High School and an expert on James Madison and the Constitution. For those of you who remember him, this character is remarkably similar to a former TA history teacher Michael Taylor.

These “new founders,” with Washington’s help, embark on a fight to return our country to the beliefs and values of our founders. What follows is a fast-paced race to re-elect George Washington, in the guise of Frank Walters, as president of the United States. There are funny moments as the eighteenth century Washington comes to grips with twenty-first century technology. (My favorite is one of the simplest – a hot shower at the turn of a knob.) There are also infuriating moments, for me at least, when these “new founders” seem to be falling into the worst aspects of modern politics, both liberal and conservative.

I want to recommend this book to anyone who is a student of American history and/or government, no matter their political philosophy. In any case, I believe it will give one much to think about.

If you are trying to decide about giving the book a try, check out the authors’ web site. Under the Media and Archive section scroll down almost to the bottom to the “Fox and Friends” interview. it will give you a quick look at what the book is about. You might also like to check this short article from BookGrabbr.

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Stonewall's Gold

9/4/2012

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Having grown up in the South, I have always been fascinated by the Civil War and particularly by Stonewall Jackson, for whom the little town of Stonewall, N.C. was named. That is the community where I grew up from age 2 through age 13.

The book Stonewall's Gold by Robert J. Mirazek added a new dimension to my knowledge of Jackson and of the place that has been my home since I was 15. This book is actually based on documents found in the basement of the Rockingham County Court House. The narrator Jamie Lockhart lives in Port Republic. Jamie learns a secret concerning a Union gold shipment that many people on both sides of the conflict would kill to keep hidden.

Awards and Honors:

Winner of the Civil War Society's Seal of Approval
Winner of the Michael Shaara Award for Civil War Fiction

If you enjoy reading about the Civil War and places you know, you might also like With Every Drop of Blood by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier. The narrator of this book lives on the mountain just east of Elkton, Virginia.

You might also like Red Moon at Sharpsburg by Rosemary Wells which takes place near Clarke County, Virginia.

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One shenandoah winter

11/21/2011

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One Shenandoah Winter by T. Davis Bunn takes one back to the little town of Hillsboro in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia in the early 1960s. Basically the story revolves around three main characters: Connie Wilkes, the town's assistant mayor, her 83- year-old uncle Poppa Joe, and the town's new doctor Nathan Reynolds. Connie has worked long and hard to convince a doctor, any doctor, to relocate to the town. Connie is very happy to finally have a town doctor, especially when Poppa Joe is diagnosed with cancer, but she soon butts heads with Dr. Reynolds who sees the tiny town and its residents as hopelessly backward. This is a story of faith and love. It would be a good Christmas read.

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Hear the Wind Blow

The Letter writer

Big stone gap

The new founders

Stonewall's Gold

One shenandoah winter

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