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House of Clouds
A sweeping saga of an impassioned romance set amidst the upheaval of a nation under siege and a way of life threatened with destruction.
The American Civil War creates enemies of lifelong friends and allies of strangers, but no relationship is more unlikely than that of a passionate Northern Unionist and a loyal Virginia sympathizer. Actress and Northerner Jordan Colfax is hired by Allan Pinkerton to spy on behalf of the Union. When she meets Confederate sympathizer, Laura St. Clair, whose father is military aide to Jefferson Davis, the perfect opportunity presents itself. But when the truth about Jordan's real intentions are discovered, their growing love is put to the ultimate test - the result of which could mean the difference between life and death. Can a Southern belle and a Yankee spy overcome their differences or will divided loyalties keep them apart?
From Tidewater Virginia to Washington, D.C., passion and betrayal converge in Civil War Richmond.
The American Civil War creates enemies of lifelong friends and allies of strangers, but no relationship is more unlikely than that of a passionate Northern Unionist and a loyal Virginia sympathizer. Actress and Northerner Jordan Colfax is hired by Allan Pinkerton to spy on behalf of the Union. When she meets Confederate sympathizer, Laura St. Clair, whose father is military aide to Jefferson Davis, the perfect opportunity presents itself. But when the truth about Jordan's real intentions are discovered, their growing love is put to the ultimate test - the result of which could mean the difference between life and death. Can a Southern belle and a Yankee spy overcome their differences or will divided loyalties keep them apart?
From Tidewater Virginia to Washington, D.C., passion and betrayal converge in Civil War Richmond.
377 pages, Paperback
First published September 24, 2007
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227 people want to read
About the author
K.I. Thompson
6 books7 followersKI Thompson is the author of three novels, House of Clouds (2008 Sapphic Readers’ Award, and 2008 Indie Book Award and 2008 Goldie Award finalists), Heart of the Matter, and Cooper’s Deale (Bold Strokes Books). She also has short stories in the anthologies Erotic Interludes (2-5) by Bold Strokes Books, Fantasy: Untrue Stories of Lesbian Passion (Bella Books), and Best Lesbian Romance 2007 as well as Best Lesbian Romance 2009 (Cleis Press). She is currently working on her fourth novel, The Will to Wynne, a historical romance set during the American Revolutionary War. KI lives in the Washington, DC area with her partner and two much loved cats.
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June 27, 2018Picked this up as that rare thing, a f/f historical romance. Premise: US Civil War, a Northern actress turned amateur spy and a Southern belle develop a romance as war is brewing around them, despite their political divide. Their political divide being that Laura the Southern belle lives off and believes in slavery.
Laura sees herself and her family as good slave owners who 'take care' of the slaves who 'depend on them', she disapproves of their maltreatment etc. She also turns a blind eye to that maltreatment, and to the innate wrong of owning human beings, in an act of deliberate wilful ignorance. The book makes that entirely clear, and her moral culpability, selfishness, and cowardice are delineated on page without question, and done well--there's an absolutely dizzying moment in which Laura, faced with marrying a perfectly nice man she doesn't love, throws herself on the bed and *wishes she were a slave* because their lives are so much simpler and easier. It's an impressive bit of getting us inside the cognitive dissonance and self-centredness required to be a 'good slave owner'.
But this only takes us so far because *she's still the heroine*. She's still the centre of the story, the one who gets a happy ending, the focus. And I didn't want her to get a happy ending. I wanted Jordan, the actress, to ditch the spoilt, selfish, hapless bitch and run off with Ruby, an enslaved woman who defiantly refuses to make nice to the 'masters', escapes, and is caught and beaten to death on page. This is a turning point for Laura who, having seen another human being brutally murdered, finally accepts that slavery is bad. Well done, Laura.
Laura and Jordan then have to escape to the North, which they do using the Underground Railroad, ie a network designed to help free slaves. Mostly black people put themselves and their network at extreme risk to help two white women. You read this section of them being escorted to safety at other people's expense and compare to Ruby, desperately trying to save herself, and the irony is stifling. It must be an intentional parallel, but it nevertheless brings into stark relief the entire decision to make this a Southern belle redemption narrative. The thing with redemption narratives: you have to see what price the MC pays for their redemption, and what it costs other people. Laura pays very little and other people pay a lot and that isn't redemption in my book. That's just her continuing to be privileged at other people's expense.
There's a cameo by Mary Bowser, the real-life enslaved woman who became one of the North's best spies, and was the inspiration for the magnificent Civil War romance An Extraordinary Union. the comparison didn't go in this book's favour. It's a ten-year-old book, granted, and the author's intent is clear, but in the end redemption romances of this sort are inherently massively problematic no matter how you try to spin it. They centre the wrong damn person, and no matter how much that person's flaws and culpability have been shown, they still get a HEA they don't deserve.
Laura sees herself and her family as good slave owners who 'take care' of the slaves who 'depend on them', she disapproves of their maltreatment etc. She also turns a blind eye to that maltreatment, and to the innate wrong of owning human beings, in an act of deliberate wilful ignorance. The book makes that entirely clear, and her moral culpability, selfishness, and cowardice are delineated on page without question, and done well--there's an absolutely dizzying moment in which Laura, faced with marrying a perfectly nice man she doesn't love, throws herself on the bed and *wishes she were a slave* because their lives are so much simpler and easier. It's an impressive bit of getting us inside the cognitive dissonance and self-centredness required to be a 'good slave owner'.
But this only takes us so far because *she's still the heroine*. She's still the centre of the story, the one who gets a happy ending, the focus. And I didn't want her to get a happy ending. I wanted Jordan, the actress, to ditch the spoilt, selfish, hapless bitch and run off with Ruby, an enslaved woman who defiantly refuses to make nice to the 'masters', escapes, and is caught and beaten to death on page. This is a turning point for Laura who, having seen another human being brutally murdered, finally accepts that slavery is bad. Well done, Laura.
Laura and Jordan then have to escape to the North, which they do using the Underground Railroad, ie a network designed to help free slaves. Mostly black people put themselves and their network at extreme risk to help two white women. You read this section of them being escorted to safety at other people's expense and compare to Ruby, desperately trying to save herself, and the irony is stifling. It must be an intentional parallel, but it nevertheless brings into stark relief the entire decision to make this a Southern belle redemption narrative. The thing with redemption narratives: you have to see what price the MC pays for their redemption, and what it costs other people. Laura pays very little and other people pay a lot and that isn't redemption in my book. That's just her continuing to be privileged at other people's expense.
There's a cameo by Mary Bowser, the real-life enslaved woman who became one of the North's best spies, and was the inspiration for the magnificent Civil War romance An Extraordinary Union. the comparison didn't go in this book's favour. It's a ten-year-old book, granted, and the author's intent is clear, but in the end redemption romances of this sort are inherently massively problematic no matter how you try to spin it. They centre the wrong damn person, and no matter how much that person's flaws and culpability have been shown, they still get a HEA they don't deserve.
September 25, 2019
Loved it. The spy element was great. I like the romance between the two women from different backgrounds.
September 29, 2018
Historical romance. The romance takes a long time to come together. The plot was very believable and well developed. Really need to read more about the civil war. I feel very lacking in my knowledge.
August 31, 2013
3 1/2 Stars
I don’t exactly know where to start in expressing my feelings about this book. I enjoyed much of it and yet there were lots of moments in which I felt conflicted. I think the main problem for me is that this book didn’t seem to know what it wanted to be. It wants to be a romance, however, the romance was so drawn out with too many separations, misunderstandings, and focus on external events that it lost its steam many times. It also tries to be a Civil War drama with the author spending a lot of book time on the specifics of the social/political issues of that time. This part suffers due to returning the focus on the romance towards the end, with things left unsaid or not finished.
The romance: the two main protagonists, Jordan and Laura, meet through both their brothers being best friends and classmates at West Point. Right away both Jordan and Laura notice each other, but are initially put off by each other’s opposing viewpoints on the current political situation. Jordan has no qualms about dissing the Southern way of life as far as owing slaves, which of course puts Laura’s back up. Laura feels defensive of her family’s heritage and Southern culture. So while they feel an attraction and want to be around each other, they are leery of getting too close.
Due to a series of events: Jordan working as an actress near Laura’s home, plus the fact that she’s been recruited to spy and gather information to help the Union—urged to get closer to Laura’s family who are in contact with Jefferson Davis-- and Laura getting very sick needing some help, she and Laura end up spending a few weeks together. Of course, while this is going on the attraction between them grows despite differences.
On this point I really liked how the author slowly built up their attraction. Internally, neither women know what to call what they feel; it’s alien to them because it goes beyond what friends should feel. This is done very realistically for the time period I felt. Unfortunately, just as they reach a point where an acknowledgment that this is something more that each have been afraid to say out loud, they are kept apart for various reasons, only meeting briefly in what are acrimonious moments until the last part of the book when the focus starts in again on the romance.
One thing that stuck in my mind, and I don’t know how women would have really interacted then, is that I felt it strange that no one, not Jordan’s father, nor Laura’s family who hated Jordan, questioned why each of them would go to such lengths and act in questionable ways where the other was involved. They both explain it away all the time as “she’s my friend.” Maybe female friendships were such in those days that it was normal for friends to act in ways that today would cause someone to wonder what’s actually going on between them?
Laura: Out of all the characters in this story Laura has the most growth and she’s the most complex character even though on the surface she doesn’t stand out as strongly as Jordan does. And she, out of all, has the most malleable mindset, learning and changing her viewpoint from events that happen as life goes on. She starts out of course angry, as most of the South, that the North wants to impose its ideology on them. She defends her family’s ownership of slaves saying they treat their slaves well even if she has a niggling suspicion they are not. However, when she learns about and opens her eyes to the truth of many things she’s been conveniently ignoring to keep the status quo, she does change her mindset even if begrudgingly at times. And she stays steadfastly loyal to Jordan even after being betrayed.
Jordan: Initially Jordan seems to be the stronger, more dynamic character. She’s not shy, expresses her beliefs to anyone and has guts to be an independent woman, not living the typical social norms that women were expected to live. She’s appalled by slavery and can’t understand how Laura can even think it’s OK to own people. Yet her attraction to Laura is such that she’s willing to look beyond that and try to form a close relationship. She risks her life to spy for the Union so she’s initially portrayed as an honorable and upright person.
The issue I had about Jordan is that ultimately she’s not that honorable. She feels bad on some level that she has all these strong feelings for Laura while she’s using Laura and her family’s hospitality to gather info on Confederate activity. But then disses Laura, mistakenly thinking that Laura betrayed her and not believing her when she states otherwise. Finding out that Laura didn’t betray her she then risks her own life, Laura’s life, friends’ lives, and so many people working for the Underground Railroad for what I felt were utterly selfish reasons.
And this is where I talk about the bigger picture. If the author hadn’t spent so much time on the social/political issues of the civil war, maybe what Jordan did wouldn’t have bothered me as much; it would have had a different context. But what was going on during this time period is expressed in intricate detail from many viewpoints through characters’ actions and words: slaves, free black people, leaders, Southern plantation owners, abolitionists, Lincoln, etc. giving a fairly realistic overall view, or so I felt. This increased my investment into what’s going on with the secondary characters as much as the main characters and how Laura and Jordan’s actions affected and are affected by them. They don’t live in a bubble.
Since the author didn't spare anything on how slaves were actually treated, it showed that even though Jordan is progressive in her thinking and therefore “good” vs the "evil" South, her privilege in doing what she did was glaringly clear comparatively, adding to my discomfort about her.
I’m not saying this was a completely problematic book. I enjoyed it overall. It’s a long book and the fact that I read it in a fairly short amount of time for me- slowest reader ever-- says a lot. It is engaging, the storytelling well done, and I liked that the author included many interesting characters as well as some action and history. However, as a romance it suffered. And the ending was very weird. What happened? We only get Laura’s perspective from the prologue, and it’s all about her and visiting her family home 10 years after she set up life in the north. There’s nothing about her and Jordan, or what happened to pretty much everyone else in the book that got a lot of book time.
Heat level: 2- one sex scene, not graphically written
I don’t exactly know where to start in expressing my feelings about this book. I enjoyed much of it and yet there were lots of moments in which I felt conflicted. I think the main problem for me is that this book didn’t seem to know what it wanted to be. It wants to be a romance, however, the romance was so drawn out with too many separations, misunderstandings, and focus on external events that it lost its steam many times. It also tries to be a Civil War drama with the author spending a lot of book time on the specifics of the social/political issues of that time. This part suffers due to returning the focus on the romance towards the end, with things left unsaid or not finished.
The romance: the two main protagonists, Jordan and Laura, meet through both their brothers being best friends and classmates at West Point. Right away both Jordan and Laura notice each other, but are initially put off by each other’s opposing viewpoints on the current political situation. Jordan has no qualms about dissing the Southern way of life as far as owing slaves, which of course puts Laura’s back up. Laura feels defensive of her family’s heritage and Southern culture. So while they feel an attraction and want to be around each other, they are leery of getting too close.
Due to a series of events: Jordan working as an actress near Laura’s home, plus the fact that she’s been recruited to spy and gather information to help the Union—urged to get closer to Laura’s family who are in contact with Jefferson Davis-- and Laura getting very sick needing some help, she and Laura end up spending a few weeks together. Of course, while this is going on the attraction between them grows despite differences.
On this point I really liked how the author slowly built up their attraction. Internally, neither women know what to call what they feel; it’s alien to them because it goes beyond what friends should feel. This is done very realistically for the time period I felt. Unfortunately, just as they reach a point where an acknowledgment that this is something more that each have been afraid to say out loud, they are kept apart for various reasons, only meeting briefly in what are acrimonious moments until the last part of the book when the focus starts in again on the romance.
One thing that stuck in my mind, and I don’t know how women would have really interacted then, is that I felt it strange that no one, not Jordan’s father, nor Laura’s family who hated Jordan, questioned why each of them would go to such lengths and act in questionable ways where the other was involved. They both explain it away all the time as “she’s my friend.” Maybe female friendships were such in those days that it was normal for friends to act in ways that today would cause someone to wonder what’s actually going on between them?
Laura: Out of all the characters in this story Laura has the most growth and she’s the most complex character even though on the surface she doesn’t stand out as strongly as Jordan does. And she, out of all, has the most malleable mindset, learning and changing her viewpoint from events that happen as life goes on. She starts out of course angry, as most of the South, that the North wants to impose its ideology on them. She defends her family’s ownership of slaves saying they treat their slaves well even if she has a niggling suspicion they are not. However, when she learns about and opens her eyes to the truth of many things she’s been conveniently ignoring to keep the status quo, she does change her mindset even if begrudgingly at times. And she stays steadfastly loyal to Jordan even after being betrayed.
Jordan: Initially Jordan seems to be the stronger, more dynamic character. She’s not shy, expresses her beliefs to anyone and has guts to be an independent woman, not living the typical social norms that women were expected to live. She’s appalled by slavery and can’t understand how Laura can even think it’s OK to own people. Yet her attraction to Laura is such that she’s willing to look beyond that and try to form a close relationship. She risks her life to spy for the Union so she’s initially portrayed as an honorable and upright person.
The issue I had about Jordan is that ultimately she’s not that honorable. She feels bad on some level that she has all these strong feelings for Laura while she’s using Laura and her family’s hospitality to gather info on Confederate activity. But then disses Laura, mistakenly thinking that Laura betrayed her and not believing her when she states otherwise. Finding out that Laura didn’t betray her she then risks her own life, Laura’s life, friends’ lives, and so many people working for the Underground Railroad for what I felt were utterly selfish reasons.
And this is where I talk about the bigger picture. If the author hadn’t spent so much time on the social/political issues of the civil war, maybe what Jordan did wouldn’t have bothered me as much; it would have had a different context. But what was going on during this time period is expressed in intricate detail from many viewpoints through characters’ actions and words: slaves, free black people, leaders, Southern plantation owners, abolitionists, Lincoln, etc. giving a fairly realistic overall view, or so I felt. This increased my investment into what’s going on with the secondary characters as much as the main characters and how Laura and Jordan’s actions affected and are affected by them. They don’t live in a bubble.
Since the author didn't spare anything on how slaves were actually treated, it showed that even though Jordan is progressive in her thinking and therefore “good” vs the "evil" South, her privilege in doing what she did was glaringly clear comparatively, adding to my discomfort about her.
I’m not saying this was a completely problematic book. I enjoyed it overall. It’s a long book and the fact that I read it in a fairly short amount of time for me- slowest reader ever-- says a lot. It is engaging, the storytelling well done, and I liked that the author included many interesting characters as well as some action and history. However, as a romance it suffered. And the ending was very weird. What happened? We only get Laura’s perspective from the prologue, and it’s all about her and visiting her family home 10 years after she set up life in the north. There’s nothing about her and Jordan, or what happened to pretty much everyone else in the book that got a lot of book time.
Heat level: 2- one sex scene, not graphically written
May 16, 2017
K.I Thompson is a brilliant narrator. I'm not from the United States of America, and while I do have the basic information on the civil war, and slavery during the 18th and 19th centuries, this book deepened my understanding of the actual war and of the battles fought.
Although the author altered the timings of various events during the novel (Like the tunnel at Libby Prison), she managed to weave the alterations beautifully into the fast paced story line.
The protagonists were intriguing and added an allure to the already well narrated tale.
I wouldn't call this book just a romance. The historic elements and mystery, along with a dash of adventure, make this book a host of different genres.
House of Clouds is a great read, and it'll help you understand the civil war a little better as well :)
Although the author altered the timings of various events during the novel (Like the tunnel at Libby Prison), she managed to weave the alterations beautifully into the fast paced story line.
The protagonists were intriguing and added an allure to the already well narrated tale.
I wouldn't call this book just a romance. The historic elements and mystery, along with a dash of adventure, make this book a host of different genres.
House of Clouds is a great read, and it'll help you understand the civil war a little better as well :)
January 23, 2016
oh wow, I really enjoyed this book! Iv had it in my list for a while now and it was one of the books that I purchased as a "one day I'll get round to it" option. However, as a big fan of the deep south ( I love in wales and have no connection to there but I just love it!) I shouldnt have taken so long. As soon as I started reading it , i fell in love with both charachters, and I couldnt put it down. It did taken me a while to finish it only due to commitments and a thing called work. This book captures 2 very different personalities , societies and views. Such a great read.
January 13, 2018
Did not finish.
It truly mindblows me how you can write a book based on the civil war and STILL make it all about white people.
I'm really over this genre.
It truly mindblows me how you can write a book based on the civil war and STILL make it all about white people.
I'm really over this genre.
July 6, 2017
To be trite, a queer Gone with the Wind. A compassionate but self-centered Southern belle and a world-wise Northern actress flirt and fight about and around the Civil War. It's slow and thoughtful. It's careful but compelling.
May 20, 2019
This book turned out to be better than I had expected. A fun historical fiction that involves espionage and LGBTQ romance. With Abraham Lincoln cameos! Read this if you want a quick read that simply discusses North-South tensions before and through the beginning of the Civil War from the perspective of two characters - one who lives and prospers in the Antebellum-era south and the other a Northern performer hired by the Union to spy on the goings-on of the Southern elite. These two main female characters were interesting, but I was disappointed to find one of them to be treated as a sweet Southern Belle with nothing else going for her and without any change throughout the book.
April 11, 2021
This was a great read. The civil war storyline and the obstacles facing the main characters was so interesting. I loved the chemistry between the leads and their adventure near the end of the story made me incapable of putting the book down. I highly recommend it.
September 3, 2017
historical fiction from Civil War era; a Northern actress/spy and a Southern deb … no master-class in sociology but class, slavery, gender all addressed
June 25, 2016
It's hard to find well written, Historical fiction within the lesbian genre. Of course the queen is Sarah Waters, and living up to her writing is difficult. So I always approach a new author with a sense of trepidation. But I really think that KI Thompson showed potential with House of Clouds. Her main characters are relatable, even when I disagreed with views. But I felt some of her events were rushed and could have used more dialog, or research. She is quite loose with her historical events, and that bothers me some. Great historical fiction authors weave the story around the facts; like North and South by John Jakes.
November 2, 2008
An interesting read because of two factors. First the discovery of emotional/sexual feelings that are without precedent in an individual's reality; and secondly because of the exploration of the relationship between North & South during the Civil War. It was written with precision of plot that perhaps took away from creative and poetic. All in all it was a good book with lots of moral and sociological and psychological exploration.
November 27, 2011
I could not even finish this. And I tend to finish everything. It wasn't terrible, it was just surprisingly unexciting for a book about Civil War spies. Additionally, I was bothered by the Southern heroine's attitudes; though I suspect that she changes those by the book's end, I did not care enough about her to follow her story to its exciting conclusion. It was not to my liking, but other folks might enjoy it.
And I would read other books by KI Thompson, though I didn't really like this one.
And I would read other books by KI Thompson, though I didn't really like this one.
August 20, 2016
I really enjoyed this book, historical fiction, combined with lesbian fiction, what more could you ask for.
Set in the Civil War the research on the time period was very good, the fictional story woven into the actual events was well done.
The story was interesting and all of the characters were believable and fully developed.
I look forward to reading more from this author.
Set in the Civil War the research on the time period was very good, the fictional story woven into the actual events was well done.
The story was interesting and all of the characters were believable and fully developed.
I look forward to reading more from this author.
February 26, 2016
I like the Civil War setting. Both main characters were appealing. The escape to safety had me turning the pages. Writting was decent with no major typos.
April 6, 2017
I really enjoy this book it made me travel in time with delight and made me want to know more about this war ( I'm French so I didn't learn it at school) I love the how strong, funny and intelligent are the 2 characters ...
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews