A powerful tale of the survival of the women and children left behind during the American Civil War by the author of the Sebastian St Cyr mysteries.”
It’s the beginning of the American Civil War and the Union army is sailing down the Mississippi, leaving death and destruction in its wake.The graceful river town of St. Francisville, Louisiana, has known little of the hardships, death, and destruction of the War. But with the fall of New Orleans, all changes. A Federal fleet appears on the Mississippi, and it isn’t long before the depredations and attacks begin.
For one Southern family the dark blue uniform of the Union army is not the only thing they fear. A young girl stops a vicious attack on her mother and the town must pull together to keep each other safe. But a cryptic message casts doubt amongst the town s folk. Is there a traitor in the town and can anybody be trusted?
Twelve-year-old Amrie and her family have never felt entirely accepted by their neighbors, due to their vocal abolitionist beliefs. But when Federal forces lay siege to the nearby strongholds of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, the women and children of St. Francisville find themselves living in a no man’s land between two warring armies. Realizing they must overcome their differences and work together to survive, they soon discover strengths and abilities they never knew they possessed, and forge unexpected friendships.
As the violence in the area intensifies, Amrie comes to terms with her own capacity for violence and realizes that the capacity for evil exists within all of us. And when the discovery of a closely guarded secret brings the wrath of the Federal army down on St. Francisville, the women of St. Francisville, with whom Amrie and her mother have shared the war years many deprivations and traumas, now unite and risk their own lives to save them.
My Thoughts:
Good Time Coming constitutes far more than a work of fiction. It is not often talked about- the southern women’s struggle during the American Civil War. The shelling of towns, churches and homes, burning, destruction, plundering, murder, rape and sheer terror commented by the union soldiers against women of the south. Not only that but the starvation they experienced. It’s not a comfortable subject and most of the time no one wants to be honest and open about it, but it is a reality that needs to be told. Women and children (black and white), poor and rich were unprotected, brutalized, starved and often left homeless. More times than not, they received no mercy from the union army. That is a fact. The story, Good Time Coming focuses on many of these things and what a telling it is! Harris has meticulously researched for this story and has brought to life, the voices of the past.
I feel so connected to the characters and their life. This story has touched my soul and impacted me in such a way that has taken me to an era gone by. There were so many emotions running through me while reading this story.
Harris truly captures the diversity of people and social standing and shows different views of the war. Her prose is often times lyrical and she really brings you to the heart of these characters and their plight.
I want people to realize how important stories like this are and how we need to openly talk about what really went on.
An American novel of the war between the states everyone should read. This by far is the best book I have read this year and the best of C.S. Harris work.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley for an honest review.
Rated this book five stars.
Stephanie M. Hopkins
When Gemma discovers a pair of ancient duelling pistols encrusted with rubies in the basement of the local museum, she is immediately intrigued…
Book Description: 
Susan Spann is the author of three previous novels in the Shinobi Mystery series: Claws of the Cat, Blade of the Samurai, and Flask of the Drunken Master. She has a degree in Asian Studies and a lifelong love of Japanese history and culture. . When not writing, she works as a transactional attorney focusing on publishing and business law, and raises seahorses and rare corals in her marine aquarium.
Arrowood is the most ornate and beautiful of the grand historical houses that line the Mississippi River in southern Iowa, where the days are long and humid and communities are small and closed. It has its own secrets and ghostly presence: It’s where Arden’s young twin sisters were abducted nearly twenty years ago—never to be seen again. Now, Arden has inherited Arrowood, and she returns to her childhood home determined to establish what really happened that traumatic summer. But the house and the surrounding town hold their secrets close—and the truth, when Arden finds it, is more devastating than she ever could have imagined.
Twenty-five-year-old Cassie Danvers is holed up in her family’s crumbling mansion in rural St. Jude, Ohio, mourning the loss of the woman who raised her—her grandmother, June. But a knock on the door forces her out of isolation. Cassie has been named the sole heir to legendary matinee idol Jack Montgomery’s vast fortune. How did Jack Montgomery know her name? Could he have crossed paths with her grandmother all those years ago? What other shocking secrets could June’s once-stately mansion hold?
Lucy Campion, a ladies’ maid turned printer’s apprentice in 17th-century London, is crossing Holborn Bridge over the vilest portion of the River Fleet one morning when she encounters a distraught young woman, barely able to speak and clad only in a blood-spattered nightdress. The woman has no memory of who she is or what’s happened to her, and the townspeople believe she’s posessed. But Lucy is concerned for the woman’s well-being and takes her to a physician. When, shockingly, the woman is identified as the daughter of a nobleman, Lucy is asked to temporarily give up her bookselling duties to discreetly serve as the woman’s companion while she remains under the physician’s care. As the woman slowly recovers, she begins-with Lucy’s help-to reconstruct the terrible events that led her to Holborn Bridge that morning. But when it becomes clear the woman’s safety might still be at risk, Lucy becomes unwillingly privy to a plot with far-reaching social implications, and she’ll have to decide how far she’s willing to go to protect the young woman in her care.
On a manhunt for a serial killer, FBI Special Agent Ileana Harper falls through a break in time, ripping her from the present and everything she knows. After forming an uneasy alliance with the man who comes to her rescue, she unearths long-buried family secrets. Spiraling out of control, she clings to memories of Tommy, her partner and best friend of eight years, to keep her sane, fearful she may never see him again.
Layered Pages 