THE MATRIARCH OF RUINS
A Novel of Civilians and the Wounded at Gettysburg
Fiction & Literature, Historical, Literary
| Author: | Edison McDaniels | ISBN: | 9781937997649 |
| Publisher: | Northampton House | Publication: | July 4, 2015 |
| Imprint: | Language: | English |
| Author: | Edison McDaniels |
| ISBN: | 9781937997649 |
| Publisher: | Northampton House |
| Publication: | July 4, 2015 |
| Imprint: | |
| Language: | English |
Praise for Edison McDaniels's first book in the Gettysburg Trilogy, NOT ONE AMONG THEM WHOLE:
"The writing is crisp, the dialogue is engaging and the plot lines are intricately woven and wonderfully timed. I would give this book 6 stars if I could." --D. Buxman, Amazon Top 1000 Reviewer & Vine Voice
"A compelling read, largely because of the skill with which McDaniels unfolds his characters' stories, day by day, minute by minute . . . he crafts dramas within dramas against the backdrop of the American Civil War and this one important battle." -- IndieReader
"An amazingly talented writer... NOT ONE AMONG THEM WHOLE is a magnificently harrowing trip into the bloody horrors of the battle of Gettysburg, populated with unforgettable characters and written with stunning precision and beauty." --Taylor Polites, author of THE REBEL WIFE
"...great pacing and vivid characterization, with a gift for writing convincing dialogue. Original and unsettling." --FG Cottam, author of The Magdalena Curse and The Colony
"If you are looking for the scent and feel of war, I encourage you to read NOT ONE AMONG THEM WHOLE." --Ryan J. Dejonghe, Amazon Top 500 Reviewer
"At first glance it resembles THE KILLER ANGELS and COLD MOUNTAIN-- and its artistry rivals those great novels. But it explores a deeper heart of darkness than even the shambles exhausted surgeons have to deal with after Gettysburg." -- David Poyer, author of A COUNTRY OF OUR OWN and THE SHILOH PROJECT
Husbands and wives. Sons and daughters. Soldiers and surgeons. Free men and slaves. Widows and ghosts.
The long dead come alive again in this epic novel of a widow struggling to keep her family together amid the carnage of the Battle of Gettysburg.
It is summer, 1863, and the war has come home to the Gamble farm in Southern Pennsylvania. With her husband buried under the willow tree in the back yard, newly-widowed Purdy Gamble must cope with losing him all over again when a rebel surgeon conscripts her farm for use as a Confederate hospital. Hannah, Purdy's daughter, disappears into the chaos of war to chase her own ghosts, both imaginary and real. And then there are the twins Loli and Coal, just fourteen. One, struck dumb by a mule kick at age five, will find a disturbing peace amid the flames of war. The other will twice save a man's life, unearthing a family secret in the process--a secret at once as alive as warm flesh and as dead as cold bones moldering under the ground.
The Matriarch of Ruins is a haunting story of lost love, moral dilemmas, and psychological traumas amid the ruins of war.
Praise for Edison McDaniels's first book in the Gettysburg Trilogy, NOT ONE AMONG THEM WHOLE:
"The writing is crisp, the dialogue is engaging and the plot lines are intricately woven and wonderfully timed. I would give this book 6 stars if I could." --D. Buxman, Amazon Top 1000 Reviewer & Vine Voice
"A compelling read, largely because of the skill with which McDaniels unfolds his characters' stories, day by day, minute by minute . . . he crafts dramas within dramas against the backdrop of the American Civil War and this one important battle." -- IndieReader
"An amazingly talented writer... NOT ONE AMONG THEM WHOLE is a magnificently harrowing trip into the bloody horrors of the battle of Gettysburg, populated with unforgettable characters and written with stunning precision and beauty." --Taylor Polites, author of THE REBEL WIFE
"...great pacing and vivid characterization, with a gift for writing convincing dialogue. Original and unsettling." --FG Cottam, author of The Magdalena Curse and The Colony
"If you are looking for the scent and feel of war, I encourage you to read NOT ONE AMONG THEM WHOLE." --Ryan J. Dejonghe, Amazon Top 500 Reviewer
"At first glance it resembles THE KILLER ANGELS and COLD MOUNTAIN-- and its artistry rivals those great novels. But it explores a deeper heart of darkness than even the shambles exhausted surgeons have to deal with after Gettysburg." -- David Poyer, author of A COUNTRY OF OUR OWN and THE SHILOH PROJECT
Husbands and wives. Sons and daughters. Soldiers and surgeons. Free men and slaves. Widows and ghosts.
The long dead come alive again in this epic novel of a widow struggling to keep her family together amid the carnage of the Battle of Gettysburg.
It is summer, 1863, and the war has come home to the Gamble farm in Southern Pennsylvania. With her husband buried under the willow tree in the back yard, newly-widowed Purdy Gamble must cope with losing him all over again when a rebel surgeon conscripts her farm for use as a Confederate hospital. Hannah, Purdy's daughter, disappears into the chaos of war to chase her own ghosts, both imaginary and real. And then there are the twins Loli and Coal, just fourteen. One, struck dumb by a mule kick at age five, will find a disturbing peace amid the flames of war. The other will twice save a man's life, unearthing a family secret in the process--a secret at once as alive as warm flesh and as dead as cold bones moldering under the ground.
The Matriarch of Ruins is a haunting story of lost love, moral dilemmas, and psychological traumas amid the ruins of war.
