Colors of Truth, book # 35

 

What can I say, but Tamara Alexander has blown it out of the water once again.  If you remember, in 2019 she wrote book 1 in this series, With This Pledge, which had me on the ground!!  I immediately bought 3 more copies and sent one to my mom, my mother in law, and my aunt.  The prequel to this series. Christmas at Carnton, came out in 2017 and it was equally amazing.  I feel certain I also bought 3 extra copies of that as well.. 

In short, I love this book, I love Tamara Alexander, and you need to read this.  

In a town battered and bruised by war, one woman embarks upon an impossible search--and one man must face the past in the very place that almost destroyed him. Tennessee, 1866. According to the last letter Irish immigrant Catriona O'Toole received from her twin brother, Ryan, he was being dispatched to Franklin, Tennessee, where--as a conscripted Confederate soldier--he likely endured the bloody Battle of Franklin that claimed the lives of thousands. Catriona leaves behind the lush green of their Irish homeland in search of him, with nothing to her name except the sum of cash Ryan sent to their family. Now the sole provider for her seven-year-old spitfire sister, Nora, Catriona hopes to reunite the siblings--the only surviving members of their devastated family. Wade Cunningham is a former Federal soldier who now works for the newly formed United States Secret Service and is trying to uncover counterfeiting rings in the postwar South. In order to infiltrate their sophisticated enterprise, he must pose as a former Confederate in Franklin--a town where counterfeit greenbacks run rampant. When Wade meets Catriona, he is immediately intrigued by her and the little redheaded scamp in her care--but what he doesn't anticipate is that the cash in Catriona's possession is some of the most convincing counterfeit money he's ever seen. Soon the object of Wade's affection is also the suspect in a major crime--one he's expected to prosecute. With rich historical detail and multifaceted prose, USA TODAY bestselling author Tamera Alexander tells a riveting tale of truth, betrayal, and unlikely romance that unveils the many shades of God's perfect redemption.  (picture and description from Amazon)

In an interesting tidbit ... when you write books about Civil War times you inevitably have to write about slavery.  Yes, it was wrong, but it is still part of history that we should not forget.  Her publisher asked her kindly to rewrite parts of the book to make it "less offense" and she knew she could not do that and tell the story like it truly happened ~ the good, the bad, and the ugly.  So her publisher cancelled this book and the final book in the series.  Not deterred from getting her story out, she took it upon herself to self publish and still got the book out on time.  You can see more about that here.   

Just to be clear, this does not mean I condone or think the treatment of black people has been fair at all, but I do believe history should not be changed.  History is something we learn from, not gloss over or delete the bad parts.  

As always, I can't wait until the third/fourth book in the series comes out.  And then I will cry my eyes out .... or go back and read many of her other books that I haven't read yet!  

Keep reading ...

O:)

Melissa