Fire by Night -- Lynn Austin

by Tristi Pinkston | More from this Blogger

18 Aug 2006 10:17 AM

Lynn Austin is a recent find for me, and is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. She specializes in Christian historical fiction (right up my alley!) and today's book, "Fire by Night," is set during the Civil War.

Julia Hoffman is a beautiful, spoiled rich girl who has spent most of her life wearing lovely gowns and being pampered. Her goal in life is to attract a handsome man and make him a fine wife and hostess for his guests. With her sights set on the Reverend, she thinks her path is clearly outlined. But one day, while watching one of the War's most infamous battles from the safety of her carriage, Julia's world comes tumbling down around her. Wounded soldiers, with limbs half gone, retreat from the enemy within feet of where she sits, and Julia cannot bear the carnage. Her weakness loses her the admiration of the man she loves, and she loses her own self-respect as well.

Desperate to redeem herself, Julia determines to become a nurse, only to find that she is not wanted. She's untrained, unmarried, and just too young and pretty. But with perseverance, she manages to get a job caring for the wounded at a hospital far from home, and starts making a name for herself. She's sure that after enough time spent caring for the soldiers, the Reverend will change his mind about her.

Throughout the course of the book, we see many angles of the Civil War, both from Julia's perspective as a nurse and from Phoebe's, as a young woman posing as a soldier. We can almost hear the Rebel yell as the battle commences, smell the smoke and feel the gunshots. Lynn Austin shows these things masterfully, using only one sentence that I found mildly objectionable. And while I'm not necessarily a romance fan, the love story in this novel literally took my breath away and made my heart beat faster. A truly well-told, well-depicted novel of the Civil War, this one is going on my bookshelf for keeps.

(This book was published in 2003 by Bethany House)

Learn more about Tristi Pinkston

I've been a blogger for Families.com since August of 2006.

View Full Profile | More from this Blogger