Great Historical Fiction Books From The Civil War Era

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If you have been reading awhile you know one of my favorite hobbies is to read and my favorite genres is historical fiction. I can’t get enough of good historical fiction and I really think for some of us empaths, the best way we learn is through emotional connection. I might not remember dates and places in history, but if I can imagine how someone felt, imagine what their daily life was like, through a story, it becomes fascinating to me. I have read so many historical fiction novels-here’s a quick post about the great historical fiction books from the Civil War era that I’ve loved.

I am reading Sunflower Sisters by Martha Hall Kelly (she also wrote the bestselling Lilac Girls that is WW2 historical fiction-so good!) right now and it is a heartbreaking but excellent book about two women in the South-one a well-off young white woman who volunteers as a nurse, and another woman, a young black slave on a plantation, suffering terribly at the hands of the cruel owner and abusive overseer. I anticipate their paths colliding, and in a small way, through a business card given in desperation, that gives hope when it is needed most, they already have.

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom is another great historical fiction books from the Civil War era. I loved this book! On a tobacco plantation at the turn of the 19th century, the story centers around Lavinia, a young girl who is orphaned during her passage to America from Ireland, who becomes an indentured servant on the plantation. She is assigned to the kitchen house to assist Belle, a slave who is also the illegitimate daughter of the plantation’s owner. Lavinia is torn between the slaves who become her family, and the owner and his family who live in the big house. This is one of the books that you can’t stop thinking about after you read it-the story stays with you.

Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier is another of my favorite civil war historical fiction books. Originally I brushed this off as a “boys book” – after all the main character is Inman, a wounded Confederate soldier, who walks out of a hospital and makes a dangerous precarious and sometimes violent journey back home to Cold Mountain and Ada the woman he is love with. His journey home is basically the story, but I could not put this book down. Meanwhile we learn of Ada’s attempt at survival on her farm with a friend Ruby who is much more practiced in the art of survival and farming. Charles Frazier is one of those author’s that is ultra-talented and you wonder how his mind works-so beautiful descriptive and emotional and just an amazing amount of gifted writing.

For more of my favorites, you can look here-I am working at getting more organized for my book lists-I know how difficult it can be to find good captivating books and really want to compile great lists.

Also-I always get asked how I find time to read. I stay off my phone as much as I can, I use this rechargeable book light at night (I bought these for all my kids for Christmas and they all use them and love them), and yes I do fall asleep when I read. When I wake up at 3 a.m. because after 45 it seem we all do, I read. When I know I need to relax in the afternoon, I read. I have realized I NEED to dedicate time for it, or it won’t happen, and sometimes I go through dry periods of not finding good books, I’ve been much more purposeful about making sure I have a stack.