I don’t much like the cover of Tamera Alexander’s 2019 novel With This Pledge, but strangely enough, it was that cover that got me to read the book. I have been intrigued by the Civil War’s Battle of Franklin and its aftermath for decades, and have visited the house pictured in the background of the cover several times because of what happened there in late 1864. Visiting places like Carnton (the name of the house and plantation) always makes me realize that 1864 is really not all that long ago. My grandparents’ grandfathers fought on both sides of the Civil War, one a Louisiana infantryman, the other a calvary sergeant who was one of only a few hundred Texans to fight on the side of the Union. My grandparents had memories of both men.
The cover, though, has the feel more of a run-of-the-mill romance novel than it does of a more serious piece of historical fiction. Even the author-description on the backflap of the cover (which I only read five minutes ago) calls the author “one of today’s most popular writers of inspirational historical romance.” And to top it off, the book is rather quietly billed as “Christian fiction,” something I didn’t even realize until I was almost finished with the novel. I admit to being skeptical of both genres when I’m looking for something to read, so I’m still a bit surprised that I read With This Pledge at all.
All of that said, I’m glad that I did because, as it turns out, the romance at the core of With This Pledge actually happened, and with just a couple of exceptions, the letters used in the book are real. That, I believe, helped Alexander keep her fictional characters true to their real-life identities while she anchored her account of the aftermath of the Battle of Franklin around their personal experiences.
 |
| Tamera Alexander |
Captain Roland Ward Jones is one of those wounded men. Jones’s legs are so badly shattered that the doctor insists that he will die if the right one is not amputated. Jones, however, strongly states that he would rather die than to have that happen, and he makes Lizzie promise that she will not allow the doctor to amputate. Somehow, Lizzie does manage to keep the doctor from doing what he knows offers the captain his best chance of surviving the battle, and Captain Jones wakes up with two legs. The captain faces a long recovery at Carnton, allowing him and Lizzie the time they need to explore their budding romance, a romance complicated by the fact that Lizzie is already engaged to a young soldier she grew up with in Franklin.
Bottom Line: With This Pledge is a romance novel by any definition, but Alexander does an excellent job of describing a Civil War battlefield and the horrors that the weapons of the day were capable of inflicting on a human body. She vividly portrays what happens to the locals after the warring armies have moved on and left behind their severely wounded. Carnton was the final resting place for hundreds of soldiers, and almost three dozen others were left behind until they had recovered enough to be moved to a Federal prison camp. This is their story. (And apparently, Captain Jones and Miss Clouston had time for a classic romance in the meantime.)
I've never read this author before, but I always appreciate when authors try to keep things accurate and historical along with writing a good story.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure that I would have read her if not for having visited the home and battlefield on numerous occasions, and I'm skeptical about her other books. But I do have to admit that she was accurate in this one.
DeleteIt feels a bit reminiscent of certain scenes in Gone With the Wind to me. Though you'll know more about it (it's 'years' since I read that) being rather more of an expert than me and might say otherwise. LOL
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Cath. I think that's exactly the feel they were going for with this cover, and that was a bit of a turnoff for me. Glad I read it though, because it helped me picture what likely went on in the house during and after the battle. The plantation owner's wife, though, played a huge role during the battle and in creating a large cemetery on the property for the dead, and that's not even mentioned.
DeleteMy great-great-great grandfather was killed fighting the Battle of Franklin, and a family legend surrounds his death.
ReplyDeleteWow, Cathy, that sounds interesting. Neither of my Civil War double-greats were in that particular battle, thankfully, or I probably wouldn't be here today. That was a real bloodbath.
DeleteHave you been there? If not, it is something you should consider doing. I've walked in some of the trenches I know that my own great-great grandfather walked in, and it's an eerie feeling, one that makes you think about just how random life really is.
Yes, I have been there. I've also been to an ancestral pile in England. Both were eerie experiences. Have you read Howard Bahr's books The Black Flower and The Judas Field?
DeleteActually, I've read both of those and The Year of Jubilo, Cath. I think he's one of the best Civil War novelists out there, but I haven't read him since 2006 looks like.
DeleteI agree with you about the cover. It doesn't seem to really capture the novel, does it? The book sounds like a good one, though, so I'll definitely check it out.
ReplyDeleteI don't have Southern roots, so all my Civil War ancestors fought on the Union side. One survived the war and actually left diaries describing his experiences on the battlefield as well as his later trip across the Oregon Trail. They make for fascinating reading! I have another ancestor who was on a riverboat being transported to where his unit was waiting - he leaned over to gather water for a bath, fell over, and drowned. I've read reports of the incident that insist he wasn't drunk, just unlucky (or maybe lucky since he never had to experience combat). It's very interesting to read all their stories.
Susan, you are so lucky to have those diaries available to you I can easily imagine how interesting and gratifying it must be to read something from the pen of so distant a relative.
Delete