CONECUH (A Civil War Novel) by Herb Hughes Book Tour, Guest Post & Giveaway! {Ends 10/2/23″}

Review By LAWonder10:

I have noticed a large amount of FourStars or less on the ratings of this book. I feel it is because of the content matter that this is so and not because of literary accomplishments. Unfortunately, many ratings include personal preferences and not literary accomplishments.

I feel this is the case with any book, especially those with a controversial subject. The reviews can include dislikes but the ratings should be substantiated by facts or literary lack of achievement.

This book is about a few characters during the U.S. Civil War. It is a book based on fact but it is still fiction so does not have to be totally accurate.

The writing is very well done. The story flows from one situation to another and from one character to another in a very smooth manner, that is easily followed. The description of the scenery and situations were done very tactfully yet effectively and thoroughly. The characters were portrayed in detail and felt very real. It was easy to connect with the story and content.

As with many situations in life, this book portrays the good and bad, the compassion and the debase actions of people on all sides. It doesn’t matter what nationality, what race, what religion, or what gender a person is there is good and bad in all. It is disheartening to know there are very inhumane and cruel actions and thoughts in any person. We are all equal in God’s sight or in the laws of the universe. Each of us are no less imperfect if we ignore the mistreatment of another and not try to do something about it. Only when that happens will we live in a world of peace.

This book addresses it all. It covers unjust, cruel situations, yet depicts the noble and humane ones also. It touches on the cruelties and how situations can change a person but it also interjects how they can enlighten and strengthen individuals.

The story is fast-moving, adventurous, and informative. I feel it is clean enough for youth to read.

I offer a Five Stars rating

In my award-winning Civil War novel, Conecuh (Cah-NECK-ah), the main character,
Caleb Garner, endures the kind of hardship and pain that was all too common during the
war years. But Caleb’s hardship and pain were not just words in a war novel. He actually
suffered every disaster and heartache related to the story because Caleb was not a
fictional character. He was an actual person from Conecuh County, Alabama.

The civil war was steeped in human suffering. Even though Caleb got more than his
share, hardship alone is insufficient to sustain a novel. So I created the fictional
characters Emily Rose, his fiancé, and Nathaniel Whiteeagle, a part Cherokee who had
been the family slave but was given his freedom by Emily’s father. Despite having the
papers to show he was a free man, Nathaniel was determined to protect the little girl he
helped raise. He traveled by Emily’s side as she searched a war-ravaged country for the
man she loved.

They traveled a land that was torn in every sense of the word, a land that was sometimes
destroyed and sometimes lawless. The ordeals they experienced, harrowing and
dangerous, took their toll. But those experiences were also instrumental in Emily’s
growing maturity. The problem was, would she survive long enough for that maturity to
be beneficial?

Every step forward they took in their search to find Caleb and bring him home seemed to
leave them two steps further behind. Each lead they followed proved to be yesterday’s
news. He was nowhere to be found. And their efforts continued to get more and more
dangerous. Would they find Caleb? Would they even survive the search? Emily was no
longer sure as she stared death straight in the eyes.

By Herb Hughes