Marianne Perry's Blog - Posts Tagged "confederate"
Traces of Mercy Book Review
Traces of Mercy opens April 1865 in Tennessee near the end of the American Civil War. We meet a Confederate sniper with a stellar record who refuses to shoot his Union foe tending to his brother during the final moments of his life. He gives the sniper a Mercy Medallion in gratitude. The sniper is subsequently injured, he loses his memory, the war ends and we learn the sniper is female they name Mercy because of the medallion.
As events unfold we meet a convent of Catholic Irish nuns who take care for Mercy. Mercy falls in love with a Union officer in St. Louis, Missouri whose family are railroad developers. They discover she is a Confederate sniper though her amnesia remains and their impending marriage is cancelled. Determined to re-establish her relationship, however, she attempts a criminal act and is captured. She escapes a conviction of treason and subsequent hanging and the book concludes with her on her own determined to solve the mystery of her identity.
The story is told in a series of first-person journal entries Mercy pens that shed insight into her character and the dilemma her amnesia causes; third-person POV unfold the plot.
A suspenseful tale with layered characters, the last line will compel readers to pick up the next book in order to discover what happens to Mercy.
In particular, I favored many of the quotes for the reflection prompted and the timelessness of the tale thus forth created. For example, "Quiet can be very loud."
Written by Michael Landon Jr. and Cindy Keller, the novel is a good read.
Marianne Perry
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
www.marianneperry.ca (less)
As events unfold we meet a convent of Catholic Irish nuns who take care for Mercy. Mercy falls in love with a Union officer in St. Louis, Missouri whose family are railroad developers. They discover she is a Confederate sniper though her amnesia remains and their impending marriage is cancelled. Determined to re-establish her relationship, however, she attempts a criminal act and is captured. She escapes a conviction of treason and subsequent hanging and the book concludes with her on her own determined to solve the mystery of her identity.
The story is told in a series of first-person journal entries Mercy pens that shed insight into her character and the dilemma her amnesia causes; third-person POV unfold the plot.
A suspenseful tale with layered characters, the last line will compel readers to pick up the next book in order to discover what happens to Mercy.
In particular, I favored many of the quotes for the reflection prompted and the timelessness of the tale thus forth created. For example, "Quiet can be very loud."
Written by Michael Landon Jr. and Cindy Keller, the novel is a good read.
Marianne Perry
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
www.marianneperry.ca (less)
