"Wedded To War" Book Review

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Wedded to War • River North; New Edition edition (July 1, 2012)

by Jocelyn Green



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jocelyn Green is a child of God, wife and mom living in Cedar Falls, Iowa. She is also an award-winning journalist, author, editor and blogger. Though she has written nonfiction on a variety of topics, her name is most widely recognized for her ministry to military wives: Faith Deployed. Her passion for the military family was fueled by her own experience as a military wife, and by the dozens of interviews she has conducted with members of the military for her articles and books, Faith Deployed: Daily Encouragement for Military Wives and its sequel, Faith Deployed...Again: More Daily Encouragement for Military Wives. She is also co-author of both Stories of Faith and Courage from the War in Iraq & Afghanistan and Stories of Faith and Courage from the Home Front (forthcoming, May 2012). Her Faith Deployed Web site and Facebook page continue to provide ongoing support, encouragement and resources for military wives worldwide.









MY REVIEW:
The Civil War seems to be a war that there aren't a ton of fiction books written about (WWII on the other hand, there are lots...) so I thought this one might be really interesting. It took me about three chapters to get really engaged with and then I just couldn't put it down. There is quite a cast of characters with Charlotte and her sister Alice being the young ladies of society that become nurses for The Sanitary Commission (the forerunner to the American Red Cross). They are joined by good and bad, fictional and non-fictional, loveable and nasty. There are snippets of Georgeanna's diary woven into the story, she is the real woman that Charlotte is based on. I was moved by this story and am really excited by the titles that I see forthcoming from Jocelyn Green. She is an author that I will be looking for at bookstores!



ABOUT THE BOOK

When war erupted, she gave up a life of privilege for a life of significance.

Tending to the army's sick and wounded meant leading a life her mother does not understand and giving up a handsome and approved suitor. Yet Charlotte chooses a life of service over privilege, just as her childhood friend had done when he became a military doctor. She soon discovers that she's combatting more than just the rebellion by becoming a nurse. Will the two men who love her simply stand by and watch as she fights her own battles? Or will their desire for her wage war on her desire to serve God?



Wedded to War is a work of fiction, but the story is inspired by the true life of Civil War nurse Georgeanna Woolsey. Woolsey's letters and journals, written over 150 years ago, offer a thorough look of what pioneering nurses endured. This is the first in the series "Heroines Behind the Lines: Civil War," a collection of novels that highlights the crucial contributions made by women during times of war.



If you would like to read the first chapter of Wedded to War, go HERE.