Gone for a Soldier
Review
The Extraordinary Lucy!
A superb historical novel which embodies the courageous
spirit of fictional protagonist Lucy Tessier. Set in the first half of the
American Civil War, the blurb tells us: "Gone for a Soldier is the story
of a real Civil War regiment and a fictional girl." A fictional young
woman who, I think, represents many real life sisters-in-arms.
Kathy Garlock has inextricably intertwined the factual
historical details of the First Minnesota Regiment with a few fictional
characters and events. She has thereby managed to bring history so to life that
it practically jumps off the pages. Her research seems to me to have been
thorough and accurate. Her characters are painfully real. The incidents which
seemed to me most likely to have been fictional turn out to be real, while
those I accepted as most unremarkable in the context are Garlock's invention!
Lucy Tessier is a magnificent character who made me want to
weep, laugh, and dance for joy. The story opens with Lucy, left alone and
unprotected in the world, being sexually assaulted. She fights back with a
knife and wins. Lucy resolves to take responsibility for herself, and to become
her own protector. Fearful that she will suffer the fate of Ann Bilansky (a
real historical character) and be hanged for murder, she decides to hide in
plain sight by disguising herself as a man and joining the army. Lucy marches, works, fights and serves alongside the men of
the First Minnesota Regiment, at Bull Run and elsewhere. Increasingly, she is
called to assist with nursing the sick and the wounded.
Life in the Regiment is vividly experienced as it was at the
time. The battle and action scenes are enthralling and convincing. The pace of
the story is good throughout. Some modern readers might wish for a slightly faster
pace in the first half of the story, but I felt that it was perfect for the
literate historical novel it is.
Through her career as a soldier Lucy does find love,
although the journey of her heart is as tangled as it is for most of us. Lucy's
love story is a significant part of the book, but not to the extent of
overpowering the historicity and the exceptional balance of the story. The
romance is extremely well done, never sentimental but very moving all the same.
The writing is literate, easy to read and enjoy; in fact
this is one of the very best-written books I have read in the last year.
Editing and presentation is of the same professional standard as that of a
commercial publisher.
The concluding material first gives closure to the story and
then explains exactly what was historical and what was fiction, and crowns this
outstanding work as a queen of historical novels.
I don't think I can recommend this highly enough, to anyone.
It was absolutely wonderful!
