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Slant of Light

4.11 of 5 stars 4.11 · rating details · 35 ratings · 14 reviews

Set during the brink of the Civil War, this beautifully written novel traces James Turner, a charming, impulsive writer and lecturer; Charlotte, his down-to-earth bride; and Cabot, an idealistic Harvard-educated abolitionist as they are drawn together in a social experiment deep in the Missouri Ozarks. Inspired by utopian dreams of building a new society, Turner is given a...more

Paperback, 303 pages

Published April 2012 by Blank Slate Press

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May 16, 2012 Brenda Casto rated it 5 of 5 stars

James Turner finds himself traveling around the country giving lectures after his book "Travels To Daybreak" a story about a Utopian community becomes a huge success. While traveling he meets his wife Charlotte, a strong willed woman that he knows is his perfect match. When on of his followers, George Webb, offers him a tract of land in Madison County, Missouri to form the community of Daybreak looking at it as a social experiment, where everyone who joins the community of Daybreak will own an e...more James Turner finds himself traveling around the country giving lectures after his book "Travels To Daybreak" a story about a Utopian community becomes a huge success. While traveling he meets his wife Charlotte, a strong willed woman that he knows is his perfect match. When on of his followers, George Webb, offers him a tract of land in Madison County, Missouri to form the community of Daybreak looking at it as a social experiment, where everyone who joins the community of Daybreak will own an equal share, and have an equal say, with all their earnings going into a common treasury, he decides to take Mr. Webb up on his offer.When his wife arrives she brings along Adam Cabot, a young abolitionist that her father had saved from hanging back in Kansas. Soon there are several community members and most are bookworms with the same ideals as James, but with little knowledge of farming. James quickly realizes that it isn't going to be easy to financially sustain the community. Inside the community, trust is lost, and leadership is tested, meanwhile on the outside there is unrest as a county goes to war. While the citizens of Daybreak deal with the turmoil going on inside their community they are determined to remain neutral where war is concerned. Will the community of Daybreak survive?

I love stories that revolve around the civil war and this book effortlessly pulls readers right into this time period. I found myself drawn to the characters. James was a character who had me volleying between like and dislike. While I thought his idea was interesting, I ultimately found myself very disappointed in him, and felt like his wife Charlotte was much stronger than he was, which was evident in the decision she made regarding Adam. There were several secondary characters that kept this story moving along. From George Webb's son Harp, who made moonshine and wasn't happy with the fact that his father had given the land so that Daybreak could be created, to Sam Hildebrand, an outlaw of sorts who kept cropping up in the story. The author's writing not only brought the characters to life but also allowed the reader to visualize the day to day life of Daybreak, and the decisions that had to be made. Another interesting aspect for me was the fact that the author weaves a bit of fact into his fiction. The author provides an ending that leaves the reader anxious for the next book. Overall whether your a fan of historical fiction or just looking for a book that will capture your imagination and not let go then you need to pick up this book! On a scale of one to five I would easily give this book a six because it's just that good!
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Apr 05, 2012 Beth rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, book-review-tours

I received this ARC from Blank Slate Press. The book is being published later in April 2012. Slant of Light combines powerful story elements in a historical setting rife with political and moral issues; the American Civil War, Abolition of Slavery, and Utopian dreams of building a community founded on "principles of common ownership, complete democracy, and no particular religious bias." James Turner, the protagonist, is a writer and lecturer with enough charisma to enthuse common people to pick...more I received this ARC from Blank Slate Press. The book is being published later in April 2012. Slant of Light combines powerful story elements in a historical setting rife with political and moral issues; the American Civil War, Abolition of Slavery, and Utopian dreams of building a community founded on "principles of common ownership, complete democracy, and no particular religious bias." James Turner, the protagonist, is a writer and lecturer with enough charisma to enthuse common people to pick up their lives and families and join him in creating a new town in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri. This town would be governed with strong principles of justice and equality, all ideas being based on a fictional novel he has written entitled "Travels to Daybreak." In Turner's novel, the island inhabitants gather together to greet each day, reciting their anthem together:
"Where there is inequality, let us bring balance.
Where there is suspicion, let us bring trust.
Where there is exclusion, let us bring openness.
Where there is division, let us bring harmony.
Where there is darkness, let us bring Daybreak."
James Turner, his wife Charlotte, and others, earnestly believe that real people could truly live as the fictional characters in Turner's book. Just imagine the possibilities (or realities?) when "the gray areas" of life present themselves and test the members of the Daybreak Community.

Steve Wiegenstein does a wonderful job addressing the emotional, political, and moral issues (and human responses) which can occur within a co-habitating group of people. His personal experience with the Missouri Ozarks setting shines through in the story details, enabling the reader to have a vivid mind picture as the story unfolds. Congratulations to Steve for a book well-written! And thank you again, Blank Slate Press, for allowing me to read a very engaging story!

Favorite Quotes
"Remarkable how the slave-state Missourians took to his message of the rights of man and the evils of capital. Apparently they could appreciate in the abstract what they could not embrace in the particular."

"Perhaps the horrors of war blind a man to the higher possibilities of mankind."

"Today he had sat on his rock at the river while thoughts rushed noisily in and out of his head like passengers through a train station, each of them intent, directed, but interfering with the others, jostling and shoving, giving him the sensation of aimless disorder."

"He wanted to find out for himself what kind of light could be drawn from a human soul. And by God, the soul is a bright thing when you rub off the dirt that's on the surface."
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May 23, 2012 Sara Kovach rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, read-2012

A very skillfully written historical fiction. If you are a fan in any way to historical fiction, this one is a must read! Slant of Light is written in the years just prior to and the beginning of the Civil War. A group of individuals take the writing of James Turner - Travels to Daybreak - and use it as a model to establish a "Utopian" society addressing the common good - all of this while the rest of the country is full of conflict and strife.

The whole story is based on this social experiment....more A very skillfully written historical fiction. If you are a fan in any way to historical fiction, this one is a must read! Slant of Light is written in the years just prior to and the beginning of the Civil War. A group of individuals take the writing of James Turner - Travels to Daybreak - and use it as a model to establish a "Utopian" society addressing the common good - all of this while the rest of the country is full of conflict and strife.

The whole story is based on this social experiment. James Turner meets his wife, Charlotte, while he is out on a lecture tour for his book. Also while on tour, to his delight, Turner gets asked to lead the establishment of this society when George Webb offers them land for this purpose. Turner sets off to get started, with plans to come back and get his wife. However, his wife decides to join him early. And, at a very opportune time, Charlotte is provided a chaperone from her father - Adam Cabot. Adam is an abolishonist that her father had saved from getting hanged. These are just a few of the many integral characters in this intricate novel. Wiegenstein masterfully created plot that involves many individuals, and was able to interweave these characters in such a way that all of them were very important to the story-line. He was able to describe each in a way that did not detract from the story, but add to it.

I am a lover of historical fiction written in the time of the Civil War. Weigenstein has taught me so much about this time in such an entertaining way. I go so wrapped up in the daily lives of the characters that I could not put the book down for long. The novel is very thought-provoking, and I found myself thinking about it even when I was not reading. I am still sifting through my thoughts on this one. I think I will carry this one around for quite some time. To me, that is a sign of a very adept author and a wonderful novel.

I loved that the author was able to not only tell a story about this society, provide it's interactions with the outside world in a time of struggle, but was also able to provide us with a well-written romance - a love triangle. This part was so fun to read. I felt tugs on my heart strings with Charlotte and Adam. In many ways I found that this romance was a necessary part of the novel - featuring the moral standards of the society. It demonstrated both the strengths and weaknesses of the society and its members.

I would definitely pick up another novel by Steve Wiegenstein. His writing is very easy to read, and appears straight forward. However, he always leaves you with something to ponder. (less)

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Jun 07, 2012 Meg - A Bookish Affair rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, fiction, historical-fiction, the-americas

Historical fiction is awesome because it comes in so many different stripes. You have books that take on really famous subjects and turn them in to something new. You have other books that take something that you may not know all that much about and brings it in to a new light. Slant of Light is of the latter type of book. I have not read a whole lot of historical fiction about this time period (the lead up to the Civil War) at all so I really liked this book as it took me to a new and different...more

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Jun 01, 2012 Zoe rated it 5 of 5 stars

I tend to hesitate when it comes to historical fiction. It probably has something to do with connecting “historical” to long, tedious hours of memorizing dates and figures. I positively shy away from Civil War era work, reminded of all the times it was covered and all the times it bored me to tears.

Despite my hesitations, historical fiction includes the majority of my top 10 favorite books and Slant of Light may just join them.

The problem with history classes, for me, is that they are so bro...more

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Apr 15, 2012 Kristina rated it 5 of 5 stars

As editor/publisher of SLANT OF LIGHT by Steve Wiegenstein, I naturally think it is wonderful, but that's not just because I'm biased. It really is a very, very, very good book! If you love historical fiction and, especially if you love American history and Civil War era works, it should be at the top of your to-read list.

To get a feel for the book, please watch our: SLANT OF LIGHT book trailer.

My favorite things about the book:

> the language: the way Steve uses the colloquial language of th...more

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May 28, 2012 Jay rated it 5 of 5 stars

Full disclosure: I know the author. I had the privilege of attending Steve's book launch party at Subterranean Books. Also, this is not the kind of book I would normally pick up to read; I have been reading lots of sci-fi lately. Hopefully these two biases cancel each other out. This was a great read! I appreciate most the rich detail of the setting (OK, one more bias -- it takes place not far from St. Louis and closer even to where my mother grew up). The characters have a lofty (and somwehat s...more

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May 27, 2012 Rachel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, fiction, historical-fiction

I chose this book because I live in Missouri and I thought it would be fun to read and learn about Missouri's history during the time of the Civil War. Because James Turner's utopian community, Daybreak, was somewhat isolated from the outside world the book wasn't overloaded with historical facts. It had a good balance between the plot within Daybreak and the happenings of the outside world that inevitably creeps into life at Daybreak.

The characters are what really drives this novel. The three m...more I chose this book because I live in Missouri and I thought it would be fun to read and learn about Missouri's history during the time of the Civil War. Because James Turner's utopian community, Daybreak, was somewhat isolated from the outside world the book wasn't overloaded with historical facts. It had a good balance between the plot within Daybreak and the happenings of the outside world that inevitably creeps into life at Daybreak.

The characters are what really drives this novel. The three main characters - James, his wife Charlotte, and their friend Adam, start out as starry-eyed idealists, hoping that Daybreak will be the community of their dreams. When they start to see that reality and forces beyond their control will make building and maintaining Daybreak a struggle, we start to see their flaws. I liked that these characters were multi-dimensional and certainly not perfect. They made mistakes but I was able to sympathize with them and keep liking them.

I have to mention that since I Iive on the Missouri side of the Missouri/Kansas border, I thought this line from the beginning of the book was hilarious: "Politics was a game for reasonable men, and Kansas was no place to be reasonable."

This book gave me a lot to think about and I was still mulling it over several days after reading it. Could a utopian community ever really work? Would we want it to? What would the purpose be? When James Turner tries to explain to someone that the purpose of Daybreak is to set an example for those around them, the man responds, "In other words, if I walk among murderers and thieves, my moral obligation is simply to avoid being a murderer and thief myself so that they may profit by my example." Is that enough - what is the obligation of the members of an utopian community to the outside world? This book would be a great book club selection with these and so many other issues to discuss.

This book is published by Blank Slate Press, a small, independent publisher. Because of that I think it needs - and deserves! - some help in getting a buzz going about how good it is. I highly recommend Slant of Light. Get it, read it, talk about it. Spread the word!
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May 14, 2012 Audra (Unabridged Chick) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: era-19th-century, skeletons-in-the-closet, sex-sex-and-more-sex, sense-of-place, place-as-character, place-american-south, mood-evocative, mood-bittersweet, historicals, historical-figure-fictionalized, favorites

This was a fantastically great book. I rarely read historical fiction set around the Civil War, and this book's time span -- 1857 - 1862 -- was unique, fascinating, and compelling. Wiegenstein's writing is vibrant and engrossing, his characters uncomfortably real, and I was immediately plunged into a time and world that frightened and fascinated me.

James Turner is a philosopher and itinerant lecturer who wrote a utopian novel called Daybreak that inspired a Missouri man to donate land in hopes o...more

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Mar 27, 2013 Claudia Mundell rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was a bit different book for me, but I read to follow the work of president of the Missouri Writing Guild. Steve Wiegenstein did a great job, and I am glad I did not miss this one.

The book deals with a Utopian-like society taking roots in 1850's Missouri. It is a gentle paced book but full of challenging topics to think about while reading. Characters are not perfect people, but their flaws do not keep them from being both likable and caring characters.

The story take reader into the middle...more

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Dec 11, 2012 T.W. Fendley rated it 5 of 5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed the way Steve Wiegenstein portrayed life in Missouri just preceding the Civil War. It was thought-provoking to see the idealistic writer/lecturer James Turner try to put his dreams of building a utopian society into practice. His bride, Charlotte, brings a grounding influence that proves critical. Missourians (even transplanted ones like me) will get an added bonus of seeing familiar places through the lens of history. Well worth a read!

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Sep 21, 2012 Amanda Librarian marked it as to-read

Historical fiction, pre-Civil War, Midwest, strong sense of place. Recommended by Reading the Past.

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Jun 07, 2012 Cat rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, tlc-book-tours

Giveaway! Enter to win a copy here by June 18th!

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Aug 05, 2012 Kathleen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: autographed, book-club-book, book-reviewing, fiction, historical, own, recommended-by-unabridged-chick, romance, won-book

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