From the Bookshelf of Mostly Sapphic…

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Whitney Hamilton

Start date: February 1, 2014

Finish date: February 28, 2014

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What Members Thought

Jan 02, 2013 Vic rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: lesfic, favorites, historical

This book was an intense, often heartbreaking, sometimes beautiful, exquisite read. It mesmerized me from the very beginning, starting out in the gunsmoke of a desperate battle. Every page turned drew me deeper into the pain, the heartache, the loss of hope and destruction that engulfs these characters again and again. The thread of hope and possibility that runs through each awful calamity kept me reading, kept me reaching with Henry/Grace and Virginia for that moment of relief, for the promise This book was an intense, often heartbreaking, sometimes beautiful, exquisite read. It mesmerized me from the very beginning, starting out in the gunsmoke of a desperate battle. Every page turned drew me deeper into the pain, the heartache, the loss of hope and destruction that engulfs these characters again and again. The thread of hope and possibility that runs through each awful calamity kept me reading, kept me reaching with Henry/Grace and Virginia for that moment of relief, for the promise of safety.

When Henry and Virginia finally meet I think I must have already been overwhelmed to the point of tears at least three times - most notably when something truly tragic happens to Virginia that left me stunned. She was ravaged of all hope, completely lost, but then Henry stumbles onto her land and that faint, almost translucent glimmer of hope flickers to life once again.

The book was written with intensity in some parts, but then flitted to a subtlety that made me read each word slowly, so I could take it in and feel these moments, these wonderful characters as they fought for life and love on the battlefields, against those that wish to oppress them, amidst the poignant words and paragraphs that pulled me so deeply into their world. Virginia and Henry/Grace were magnificently written - full, profound, lost, found, flawed and perfect. I could have read about them for hours more, days more, hell even weeks more.

I'm gushing and I know it, and I'm sure the novel is not perfect (certainly some people may just not find themselves as moved by the book) but for me it was a book I will not forget. It burned a hole in my brain somewhere, took a seat in the charred hollow, and will haunt me forever. Much like The Color Purple when I first read that, and like Fried Green Tomatoes when that also took me on a rollercoaster of life, death, love and hardship. This book surprised me and surpassed any expectations I might have begun with when I downloaded it.

This isn't your average 'lesfic' offering; it's not really lesfic at all to be fair as it encompasses so much more, it goes deeper than that. It's a tough ride, a battle. It drags you into a world and a time where life was very different and it doesn't sway from that or present easy options to initialize romance. There is romance - romance so perfectly and delicately done I felt lifted by those moments - but it's clawing its way out from under layers of oppression, from the thickness of grief and pain. This is no romp-a-thon; this is two women (two people) who find each other in the midst of devastation. The scenes between them often made me stop to catch my breath; not due to the usual sexual gymnastics in 'lesfic', but due to the things not done, not said, but deeply felt by both women.

The book blew me away, it devastated me at times but left my heart vibrating with hope, and I enjoyed every moment. I was truly captivated and enchanted by it.
...more

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Feb 27, 2014 V.T. Davy rated it liked it

I would have given this novel 4 stars except it was spoiled for me by the poor proof-reading. Loads of grammatical errors, words missing and, at one point, a character gets called the wrong name. The paragraph spacing was also tight and not indented on the Kindle digital version that I read.

It was a shame because this is a well-written, well-paced and intriguingly different story. I enjoyed the style of the writing and thought the characters' journeys believable. Hamilton's quality of prose and ...more

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Feb 28, 2014 Stephanie rated it really liked it

Shelves: kindle-lendable

So….I gave this 4 stars because until the end, the writing was just incredible. It was haunting and lyrical.
There were times when I couldn't put it down. However, I really wanted 3.5 stars. It's probably just me….but for a book that was so rooted in incredible emotions, the last 3% was just bizarre. It felt so rushed and just not "real" to me. I wish the author had not spent so much time in Henry's comatose mind. That was the part that felt so weird to me. ...more

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Jan 31, 2014 Ulla rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical, owned

It was a slow read, but worth every minute! The Civil War was really terrible, and described in horrific details, but on the other side there is the beauty of the nature and the two main characters, especially Virginia.
Had to buy the DVD, actually, though the film is not supposed to be so very good.

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