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    The Second Mrs. Hockaday
    The Second Mrs. Hockaday
    The Second Mrs. Hockaday
    Audiobook7 hours

    The Second Mrs. Hockaday

    Written by Susan Rivers

    Narrated by James Patrick Cronin and Julie McKay

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    When Major Gryffth Hockaday is called to the front lines of the Civil War, his new bride is left to care for her husband s three-hundred-acre farm and infant son. Placidia, a mere teenager herself living far from her family and completely unprepared to run a farm or raise a child, must endure the darkest days of the war on her own. By the time Major Hockaday returns two years later, Placidia is bound for jail, accused of having borne a child in his absence and murdering it. What really transpired in the two years he was away? Inspired by a true incident, this saga unfolds with gripping intensity, conjuring the era with uncanny immediacy. Amid the desperation of wartime, Placidia sees the social order of her Southern homeland unravel. As she comes to understand how her own history is linked to one runaway slave, her perspective on race and family are upended. A love story, a story of racial divide, and a story of the South as it fell in the war, "The Second Mrs. Hockaday" reveals how this generation and the next began to see their world anew."
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHighbridge Company
    Release dateJan 10, 2017
    ISBN9781681682051
    The Second Mrs. Hockaday

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    Reviews for The Second Mrs. Hockaday

    4/5

    168 ratings41 reviews

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    • 5/5
      First, I LOVE the name Placidia. It stands on its own as a signal, a beacon of a different time, and it almost evokes a sense of place. Fascinating too, is that this book is based on true events. I admire Rivers' ability to track this story given the construct. (I think my head would have exploded) She takes care with each character's role, and as I read, I imagined a stage where each one spoke their part, giving hints and details on what they knew about the dramatic event that captivated and horrified all who knew - or thought they knew - Placidia's story.

      One of the most commendable aspects of the narrative is the way Susan Rivers has captured the essence of voices from the past. I have a couple of Civil War diaries and she has written this book (in epistolary form) with the unique lilt and cadence of language at that time. It makes me wonder - if in one hundred and fifty years, we can sound so different, what will our language be one hundred years plus from now?

      Another is the tension she creates as the reader gleans a tiny bit more knowledge of the facts with each letter written, each diary entry, and each inquest. Even while a reader might begin to suspect that the accusations ARE suspect, Rivers confidently, and capably delivers the conclusion at exactly the right time.

      Highly recommend for those who like reading books set during the Civil War, and written in epistolary form.
    • 4/5
      A strange marriage that happens quickly between a Civil War soldier and a teenage girl eventually does turn into love. Gryffth, the soldier, returns to find that his wife Placidia has had a child that was obviously not his, that she has apparently killed, according to the people in the area. She is also accused of having an affair with a slave. This book largely covers what really happened in the 2 years that Gryffth is gone. Strangely uplifting in the end, I found this to be a good read.
    • 3/5
      Not even quite an adult when she weds, Placidia is now stepmother to an infant and wife to a major returning to war. During his absence of two years, she gives birth and is charged with killing the newborn. There are some startling occurrences in this tale, but it takes them so very long to make their appearance in this slow-moving story, the reader is almost caught off-guard when they happen. The characters are interesting, as is the plot, but the plodding nature of the story does not add to its enjoyment. And yet, the end seems rushed, with some story threads left dangling. This is a good read, just not a great one.
    • 4/5
      Susan Rivers has a beautiful writing style. Placidia the main character of the story is intelligent and dignified in her young age. As a mere teenager, she is expected to run a farm, manage slaves and take care of her husbands child from his first marriage. This is during the civil war in the US southern states where times were difficult to say the least. Interesting story.
    • 5/5
      Placidia Fincher, a young woman of 17, has to make a decision quickly as to whether to marry Major Griffith Hockaday, 33 years of age before he heads off in two days to fight in the Confederate Army half way through the American Civil war. She has known this man for less than 24 hours but she and her father have a good feeling about him. She agrees to the wedding, it happens the same day and they leave for his plantation 12 miles away in Holland Creek, South Carolina. This is a gripping, complex love story told through letters and other correspondence about Placidia’s life at the plantation during the Major’s two year absence. She raises Charlie, a toddler from Hockaday’s first marriage, manages and maintains the plantation along with the house and farm slaves, fights off carpet baggers and Confederate raiders. Rumours begin to circulate, that in January 1865, Mrs Hockaday gave birth alone to a child which died and that she buried on the property. This is a first novel for Susan Rivers and it is so well written and the characters are so well developed that I was sorry to have it end. Placidia is a well educated, intelligent, practical, happy and loving person who waits patiently for Hockaday’s return. How she manages to survive her travails is a tribute to her character and the foundation for this amazing story.
    • 4/5
      This is an interesting novel told in epistolary form, which gives readers the opportunity to know the characters in their own words. Set during the harrowing days of the Civil War, it is rich in historical perspectives and based on a true story. Placida is a mere teenager when she marries Major Gryffth Hockaday after an acquaintance of several days. He is then off to war, leaving Placida to manage a farm and raise his young son from his first marriage. When he returns years later, he finds that Placida has borne a child (clearly not his) and then murdered and buried the baby. The mystery of the baby's father is kept until the end, as is the outcome of their relationship.This novel is no exception to the fine offerings by Algonquin Books. I have rarely been disappointed when reading a book published by Algonquin.
    • 4/5
      Placidia,"Dia", Fincher decides to accept Major Gryffth Hockaday who is fighting for the Rebels in the Civil War in 1863 offer of marriage after knowing him less than a day. She feels a certain spark of something special when she's around him. His wife has just died and he has a young child, Charles, that needs someone to take care of it, though he has a slave woman looking after it now on his small farm. Dia's stepsister Agnes has just had a huge wedding to Floyd Parris a wealthy landowner, though she herself has land of her own. Agnes is a bitter woman who is jealous of Dia's beauty but the seventeen-year-old Dia hasn't figured this out. She can be naive about some things. Which makes the task she is left to do all the more incredible. Hockaday takes her to their home and stays for a couple of days and then is called back to the War early and so leaves her to handle the household--something she has not been trained to do.As a wedding present, she has brought along the slave Abner to help with the household. She quickly gets rid of the slave Sukie who is there to take care of the child because she is cruel to the child. Floyd takes her and sends her one of his slaves, Cleo in return. Floyd has been helping her out as much as he can. They need help in the fields to bring in the crop and going against Bob, who runs the fields, wishes she goes to the mailman in town and asks him, an evil man, to find her two men to buy. He sends her one who fights all the time and one who gets sick and dies. He's also reading the Hockaday's letters to each other and not sending all of them along. She also has to deal with the military and vagabonds coming to take her food, animals, and money and possibly her virtue.The book opens up with Dia in a jail cell in 1865 being held for trial for killing the child she had while the Major was away fighting and being a prisoner of war. The child he did not father and the child for whom the father she will not name. It is whispered that Floyd is the father. This novel is told through letters from Dia to her cousin Millie and back and from Dia to the Major and back and Dia's sons to each other and their cousin in 1892 and court documents as well as Dia's diary. This is a unique way to tell a story and it may take some getting used to, but honestly, I can't imagine this book told in another way. During the Civil War journals and letters were the lifeblood of soldiers and their families. So it makes sense to use these devices to tell a story that takes place during the Civil War. You might figure most of it out ahead of time but this book still holds some surprises. I really enjoyed this book. Dia is a powerful character with grit and determination to make it no matter what, though she goes through a dark period that she does not see a way out of she finds the strength to overcome and come out the other side. I'm not quite sure what to make of her flighty son Achilles but her son Charles I do like. He is sensible and kind and smart. The Major is a bit of a rough character, but in his letters home to her he shows his soft side and how much he cares for her and that he didn't marry her just for her looks or to find a mother for his child. This is a great book and I definitely recommend it.QuotesHe said he would not leave me for the world, and I believe him. I said I loved him as I ever did, and I hope he believed me. The truth is harder, as the truth often is. We are no longer blessed with innocence, nor do we deserve to be. Paradise may have been lost, but paradise is a bad bargain. It costs too much. It conceals serpents and is littered with graves. I would rather have this: my husband wrapped around me, his breath against my face. The cord, or something like it, sustaining me.-Susan Rivers (The Second Mrs. Hockaday p 254)
    • 4/5
      One of the things I truly loved about this novel was the way in which it was written. The letters and diary entries gave it a very personal feeling, much more than even if the novel was written in the first-person narrative. It gave me a feel for the setting and the sentiments of everyone around Placidia (as well as Placidia herself, of course). The story itself was captivating, as it described her struggles as a new wife and young mother. I will say that the story jumped around a bit in terms of which character was speaking and what time point was being mentioned, but that just made it all the more intriguing! The final reveal was something that I definitely would not have been able to figure out and it made me love the character of Placidia even more! This is a great historical fiction that talks about the courage of a woman during the times of Civil War! Keep on the lookout for this one, because it is superb!

      I received this novel as an advance copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
    • 1/5
      Story was so disjointed that I found it hard to follow. Didn't really identify with the main character to begin with. Totally forgettable book.
    • 4/5
      Using the epistolary technique, this story is told through letters and diary entries. It worked well although I did have to frequently jump to the end of the letter to see who the letter was from. The time line also was a bit confusing at times – letters written between 1863 – 1865 jumping back and forth – then forward to 1892 interspersed with diary entries from 1864. But it really did not distract from the story.As their husbands went off to war, wives were left behind to tend to the crops and livestock. But Union troops (and men dressed as troops) took food and livestock from them, not caring how the families were to survive. Slaves were leaving as the opportunity presented itself. Newly-wed Placidia barely knew her husband when he left her to tend their huge farm and his young son from his previous marriage. This was not a marriage of convenience as they seemed to truly love each other.But two years later when Major Hockaday returns home, he finds that Placidia has been arrested for killing her newborn child, a child that definitely was not his. Can he forgive his love for whatever happened while he was away? And what did happen? Can she be honest with him? Can their love survive?Placidia had to make many critical decisions on her own. Was she an irresponsible teenager? Or wise beyond her years? Did the Major return a cold, heartless man after the horrors of the war, or did his love for his wife cool the anger and shock?Toward the end of the book I was totally engrossed wanting to know how life would treat these brave characters who had to do whatever it took to survive.
    • 5/5
      Placidia was only 17 and not even thinking of marriage when widower Major Gryff Hockaday swept her off her. She had a single day to decide whether to accept his proposal. Only a few days after they married, the major was called back to join his Confederate troops, and Placidia was left to manage the farm, oversee the slaves, and care for Charles, her husband's toddler son. As the situation deteriorates, Placidia finds herself charged with a crime, but she is keeping her secrets.The novel is told in the form of letters and diary entries. Most of the action takes place in 1864-65, and the early letters are between Placidia and her cousin Mildred, but later sections set in the 1890s focus on how Achilles, the son of Placidia and Gryff, uncovered his parents' secrets and changed the way he thought about them and himself.I can't say much more without giving away too much. I found the novel held my interest and that the author did a great job of heightening the suspense while slowly revealing the truth. The novel explores the hardships of women left alone to manage while their men are at war, as well as the dark side of slavery, but it also depicts a marriage that, although sorely tried, survives because of love.
    • 3/5
      Susan Rivers weaves a tale seeped deep in Greek Mythology and based on a slave’s document. The gripping epistolary novel jumps from to war years of 1862-1865 to 30 years later. Placidia Fincher sees the somewhat dashing Major Hockaday at her cousin’s wedding, and a day Placidia has married the Major and leaves her home. After traveling 48 hours to the Major’s farm, the young couple has two days of bliss, before Major Hockaday returns to his war duties. Placidia’s writes to her cousin Millie of the troubles of running a farm and caring for the Major’s infant son and her own loneliness. The letters bring awareness to Placidia as she uncovers truths about her father and family. The story becomes very encumbered with Greek mythology and Wikipedia answers many forgotten characters. I listened to an audio version and the male reader spoke too softly, at times.
    • 4/5
      This has to be one of the better novels I've read about the Civil War and the toll it took on those living in the American South during those years. Set around a criminal investigation of a wife who becomes pregnant while her husband is away fighting and those child then dies, this book provides a vivid portrait of a society coming apart and the strength required to endure. Excellent reading, even for those who do not typically read historical fiction.
    • 4/5
      I must say that when I started this book, I almost didn't finish. I had a very hard time with the way it was written in letter format, journal entries and court inquests and a tougher time with the language from 1863. By the time I hit 10%, I was okay, it was getting easier and the story was already building up. A mystery that I wasn't expecting.This is the story of Placidia, a young wife and step-mother of a 2yr old little boy named Charlie, left to tend to the house and farm while her husband, Gryffth, fought in the war and all that happened in his 2-yr absence.I thought the characters were well developed; I was very fond of most of them.A definite recommend for historical fictions fans.
    • 5/5
      I was surprised to see that perhaps this is her only adult novel. Rivers has written lots of children's books as well as plays plays. Really a fascinating story that is a mystery right up until the very end. This generational story was a great listening experience on the CD, read by Julie McKay and James Patrick Cronin.
    • 5/5
      Extraordinary. This was the first of two books I coincidentally read in recent months which described the horrors of the Southern homefront during the Civil War. Here the horrors were more tangential, dealt with more matter-of-factly, never the main focus of the story but a backdrop for the central question of what happened to the Second Mrs. Hockaday, and yet those horrors were just as successfully conveyed as horrors here as in that other book, where they were more closely detailed. It's for damn sure that when the Doctor finally lands in my living room and asks me when and where I want to go, my answer may be "anywhere but the Confederate States of America anytime in the late 1800's".But that is not the main point of the narrative. That would be too easy. What it actually is is the slow and gradual unraveling of a terrible secret– the sort of mystery that you're warned against trying to unravel, because it will change you forever. The first Mrs. Hockaday, the second Mrs. Hockaday, slave and master, infant and adult, death and life – all are tangled and entwined into a knot of pain … and a little surprising joy. I thought of Gryffth's mouth on my neck, his laughter shaking the bed. Can one die of loneliness, I asked myself? I thought I heard the first Mrs. Hockaday's voice in my head, saying: I did. The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.
    • 5/5
      This book grabbed me from the beginning and never let go. The story is told through letters, diary entries, and court documents and is an absolutely riveting mystery. Placidia is a teenager living on her father's farm during the time of the Civil War when she is swept off her feet in a whirlwind courtship that results in marriage to Major Gryffth Hockaday, a widower with a young son who is but a baby. However, Major Hockaday is called to war only two days after their marriage, and Placidia subsequently doesn't see him again for nearly two years. During those two years, something awful happens to Placidia. The question is, what happened? Through the letters back and forth between various people, the tragic events over the course of those two years are slowly revealed.I do not usually read historical fiction, but when I heard about the plot of this book, my curiosity was piqued. The battlefield descriptions through Major Hockadays letters are realistic, and there are just enough of these descriptions to clearly set the stage without turning the book into an historical treatise on the Civil War. The descriptions of Placidia's struggles in managing her property in the absence of her husband are vivid, and I sympathized with her so much.Author Susan Rivers does a great job of adjusting her language, such that the language is more 19th-century in style in the letters written during the Civil War, and more contemporary in style in the more modern letters. The shift is subtle but essential in helping the reader stay immersed in the story when it jumps in time.I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which I read in two sittings. I didn't want to put it down!
    • 4/5
      As if the war wasn’t bad enough, not knowing whether their own men are among the many lost, those left behind most cope with running their farms alone, trying to keep their food safe from marauders in order to survive another winter. Bad things might happen to good people. This is a work of historical fiction, inspired by a documented event.The Second Mrs. Hockaday opens with a wife’s letter to her cousin, written from her jail cell in 1865. Told in letters and excerpts from inquests, as Placidia’s heartbreaking story unfolds, the hard life on the home front in civil war South Carolina becomes very real to the reader.
    • 5/5
      It took me a few pages to get into this book, but once I did it quickly became a read that I couldn’t put down. We are soon walking in Palacidia’s shoes, and what a life this young girl led, and where she found the energy and courage to go on is amazing.The book takes place in the South and during the Civil War, and more amazing it is based on a true story. While the text is mostly in the form of letters, and a diary, along with using the illustrations in books for paper, as it was scarce. We see the hardships these people faced, and meet slavery head on, and see it brutality and wonder why the fighting was going on.When you see her in jail, and at one point you wonder if she is going to hang, and it kept me reading as fast as I could to get the answers. Such a powerful story, and one shows the other side of this horrible war, and yet we see the strong side of preservation in hard times.I found myself rooting for her in both the good and bad times, what a great read, and I highly recommend it.I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Algonquin Books, and was not required to give a positive review.
    • 2/5
      I wanted very much to like this book, but felt like the letter and diary format used took away from the overall story. In a narrative format, there would have been greater opportunity to explore characters in depth and to flesh out details of the storyline. I could not bring myself to really care about Placidia although I will admit the mystery revealed at the end did come as a surprise. Other characters seemed to have storylines leading to nowhere.I believe my own background also contributed to my inability to like the novel. I was born and raised in a part of the South heavily impacted by the Civil War and there are dozens of battlefields, plantations and farms within a short distance of where I grew up. My own family was significantly impacted and I have read plenty of primary source letters, diaries and accounts from the Civil War over the years. This tale just didn't ring true enough for me in too many areas to make it enjoyable, from the overall writing style to descriptions of farm life during the war. For someone who doesn't mind a letter format and who likes light historical fiction, it may be an enjoyable read. However, it just didn't do the trick for me.
    • 4/5
      Placidia, at the age of seventeen, was suddenly thrust into roles of wife, mother of a young stepson and farm manager when she married, without courtship, a recently widowed older man who then left her in South Carolina when he returned to the line of battle as a Confederate officer. To say the least, she had a lot to learn when her husband (of two days!) was gone for two years. Major Hockaday returned to find that his wife was on trial, accused of murder. Using a format of correspondence to and from Placidia, court documents and diary entries, the non-linear timeline is assembled with information from various perspectives. As the author parcels out portions of the narrative a bit at a time, tension builds as the story of the details behind Placidia’s trial unfold.Especially through the diary entries we learn about the challenges Placidia faced in day to day life. At the Southern home front in the agrarian society of the 1860’s many women like Placidia were left with not only their usual tasks of raising children, producing food, cleaning and sewing, but the added responsibility of maintaining the functioning of the farm. Her duties increased with the depletion of resources and manpower. As the war raged on there were shortages of manufactured goods, hunger and the shadow of the line of battle drawing ever closer. In this well-researched novel the author does not gloss over the hardships of daily life for all of the population of the South as their society is slowly fractured. It is a life filled with eye-opening toil, occasional violence, and the hope at the end of the day that life will continue on and improve even as the way of life unravels. The author has created in Placidia a memorable character of grit and grace in a gripping tale of the realities of life during the Civil War.
    • 2/5
      *I won a free copy of this through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer's Program*Actual Rating: 2.5The Second Mrs. Hockaday follows a seventeen-year old Placidia as she is married to Major Gryffith Hockaday in the midst of the Civil War. When he returns, two years later, he finds that she seems to have given birth in his absence and murdered the child. But all is not what it seems - what really happened in his absence?This book was definitely really hard to review, because I, for one, have never been a fan of books composed out of just letters/diary entries. This plot of this book, however, did not bore me like those typically do, and I found that I was quickly drawn into the story. However, the reveal of the story did not happen until the very end, and I found that I was kind of bored throughout a large part of the middle of the story.Because of the style, I found that it was a little hard to connect the characters, and I would get a little lost in who was speaking to who until I got to the end of the letters. At the end of the book, I definitely felt the emotional weight of the main character, but I wish I had felt this earlier on.The writing style definitely seemed to fit the time period, and it really added a tone of realism to the story, so I commend the author for that.All in all, I do think that I kind of predicted the ending, but that is the one scene throughout the book that I really liked. I'm not sure if I would very strongly recommend this to anybody, but the writing at the end was very touching and powerful, so if anything I would go back and reread that part.
    • 5/5
       I loved this book from page one. The mystery, the characters, the suspense, all worked together to pull me in and keep me engrossed. The second Mrs. Hockaday (Placidia, nicknamed Dia because it's a mouthful) has married into a life she thought would be different, only to find herself on a farm far from home as her husband leaves to fight in the Civil War. When he returns to rumors that in his absence she gave birth to a child (obviously not his) and killed it, her world is thrown into tumult as she faces a trial and the wrath of her angry husband. I enjoyed every page of the letters between Dia and her cousin, and then that cousin and Dia's son, as they unfolded to reveal the truth about what happened when Major Hockaday was away fighting the Civil War.
    • 5/5
      This novels tells the story of Placidia Hockaday who was accused of a terrible crime while her husband is away fighting for the South during the Civil War. Placidia must wrestle her own demons, her family and her history as the scandal comes to light. The novel is told through diary entries, letters and court documents. At first I was unsure if I was going to like the way the book was told. I think it is really hard to find a well written book that tells its story through diary entries and letters. This is because it is hard to get the right amount of detail, it usually feels like too much and a regular person wouldn't write in their diary or write a letter this way. I have to say I was wrong to doubt the way the novel was written. It was wonderful! I felt like the letters and diary entries were so perfect for the time period. The details so accurate and the book kept me guessing what was going to happen or what had happened. From the first page I was hooked and I couldn't put the book down, I had to know what had happened next. I find myself still haunted from the book. It gave me a lot to think on. I would recommend it highly!
    • 4/5
      This is a common story told in an uncommon way. We learn about the horrors of the Civil War through letters between family members both during and after the war. Placidia (Dia) Hockaday is the young bride who is left after two days of wedlock to run the rural farm and care for a toddler from her new husband's first marriage. It is here that she learns brief love, pain and endurance the two years her husband is fighting. There is no happy homecoming as he finds out that the child she bore out of wedlock and hid, has died. Dia is taken into custody and we then learn the truth through letters and her journal. Quietly engaging, this is a well researched look at the struggles of war. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.
    • 4/5
      "The Second Mrs. Hockaday" by Susan Rivers is a historical fiction set during the U.S. Civil War time period. It follows the story of Placidia, a young married woman, who is accused of an awful crime. The is told through letters and diary entries. The novel is interesting, I don't mind the format that the author used, and the resolution did not disappoint. My main complaint was that very few of the characters held my interest. Luckily I was interested in Placidia, I liked her very much, so I could look past my indifference to the rest. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.
    • 3/5
      "August 19, 1865Dearest Mildred, Of all the misgivings to which we women are prone, none is more pernicious than the suspicion that we were too easily won." (Placidia Hockaday)Much like Fair and Tender Ladies (Lee Smith) or the Color Purple (Alice Walker), The Second Mrs. Hockaday is told in letters, diaries and correspondence. The book is loosely based on fact.It opens with a letter written by Placidia Fincher Hockaday from the Holland County, South Carolina jail dated July 20, 1865. The letter is addressed to her cousin, Mildred. The details of her incarceration are left out of the letter.She reminisces in that letter about the day she first met her husband, Major Gryffth Hockaday, when she was 17. “On my deathbed I shall remember that April day if I remember anything at all…”She had spent most of the memorable April day riding a spirited horse and arrived back at her father’s farm, sweaty, dirty and wild-haired. She discovers her father talking to a mysterious Confederate officer, taller and thinner [than father] with a wind-burned face as craggy as a shagbark stump.The Major stays with the Fincher family overnight to attend Placidia’s step-sister’s wedding. We learn that Major Hockaday’s first wife, Janet, died recently leaving a child, Charles. The morning after the wedding, Placidia’s surprised father tells her the Major has made an offer of marriage. Placidia’s relationship with her step-mother and step-siblings is strained and her father is dying. Believing a better future lies with the Major she accepts the offer of marriage despite only meeting him hours before.The newlyweds arrive at the Major’s farm and it is not the vision Placidia expected. The farm is failing, rundown, and too few slaves to work it properly. Two days after they arrive, the Major is called back to the war service leaving the 17 year old bride alone in this new strange world to tend an infant and manage the affairs of a failing Southern farm.Two years pass before the Hockadays reunite. The Major, headstrong and trigger-tempered arrives to discover that his wife has born a child in his absence. The child died. His immediate reaction was fury and he accuses Placidia of murder. He presses charges and she is arrested.Placidia’s life and somewhat of the Major's over those two years of separation are told in correspondence that flips back and forth in time between wartime and their lives after the war, producing a somewhat disjointed story line. The truth behind Placidia’s accused crime isn’t revealed until near the end and is as heartbreaking and ruthless as you imagine it must have been.As a reflection of the times, the story poignantly describes the plight of the slaves, the horrors of war and the struggles of all Southern families to survive during and after the war. Their stories are heartbreaking. There are secondary characters that will turn your stomach. There are moments that will leave you filled with hope for the future.I found the final chapters had the most meat and were worth the long tease to what really happened to Placidia. The “crime” would prove to be a dark personally held secret that percolated behind the ether of daily life through three generations. In the end, the reader is left to wonder if Placidia’s final decision was wise.My overall opinion was very positive. The violent scenes were handled carefully; accurate enough to be honest but not extreme enough to be overly graphic. I would recommend the book to anyone interested in historical fiction.I would like to thank Netgalley.com and the publisher, Algonquin Books/Algonquin Young Readers, for the ARC e-reader in exchange for my unbiased review.
    • 4/5
      A very enjoyable quick read. Liked that it was told in letters and that we did learn what happened. A good mix of history and mystery.
    • 4/5
      This is the story of a woman who takes a chance marrying a man when she is very young and has only known him for a couple days. The Civil War is going on and after spending just a few days with her new husband he is called back to the fighting. Placidia must manage a farm and raise her husband's son alone during wartime. The story is told through letters and diaries and in this case it is a very effective way to tell the story. The story is tragic, but the characters embody strength and hope despite the brutal costs of war. I like that the story begins in during the war and then picks up several years after Placidia's death and focuses on her son Achilles. The pace of this book is fast and I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in history or who likes a mystery.
    • 3/5
      A LibraryThing win! An interesting historical fiction told through journal entries, letters and court documents. Normally I don't care for this type of writing but in this case it worked for me. Lack of punctuation at times was a bit confusing as was the flipping back and forth from past to present..Set during the Civil War young Placidia marries a much older man, spends only 2 days with him, and then is left to manage a large farm, oversee slaves, and raise her husband's 2 year old little boy when her husband is called to duty. Two years later Major Hockaday returns to discover that his wife has been accused of murdering the infant she has given birth to. Just what happened during those two years is the mystery. Placidia's strength, determination, and courage is what made this story so beautiful yet so sad. This story has much more subsidence to it than your typical suspense/murder/ mystery. Bumping up an additional 1/2 star because I actually cared about the characters and outcome of the story. 3 1/2 stars