I
Shall Be Near To Youby Erin Lindsay McCabe –
I absolutely
loved this book. I couldn’t put it down
from the first page. This was about a
woman who was someone you couldn’t push around.
She was a women in a man’s world and she didn’t like it one bit. She
wasn’t about to be told what she could and couldn’t do. She had a boyfriend who wanted to marry her
when he returned from the war, with enough money in his pocket to buy the farm
in Nebraska that they had both been talking about buying and farming. She insisted he marry her before he leave. She didn’t want to wait. Of course she got
her way. She moved with him into a small
cabin on his parent’s property for two days after they married and he left
without even telling her goodbye. He took off and left a note for her. She tried to do things the way his family
wanted her to. She had been replaced
already as a farm hand helping her Father. She just couldn’t sit and wait for
her husband and wonder all that time if he were going to return. She cut her
hair, hemmed his pants and shirts, went and joined the Army and appeared at the
same grounds where he was to his shock and surprise. He keeps trying to send
her back home before they get into real battle and she won’t go. Before long he
stops even trying, he likes having his wife by his side, until they start
facing the enemy with bullets coming at them and others in their company
dying. You cannot put this book down if
you are into women’s fiction, love stories or Civil War story’s I believe you
will love this book! I received this
book from Blogging for Books for this review.
The author did a lot of research on women who
dressed as men and entered the Civil War; there were hundreds who did this on
both sides of the War. She read some
250 letters that these women had written, read many books, studied the areas
and even went to some of the areas where the famous skirmishes’ happened. I like to read how the authors research and
come up with ideas for their books and see how much they had to do in order to
write a book This book is entirely
fiction although it has mention of people and places that were real, she wrote
about them fictitiously.
About
The Book: An extraordinary novel about a strong-willed woman who
disguises herself as a man in order to fight beside her husband, inspired by
the letters of a remarkable female soldier who fought in the Civil War.
Rosetta doesn't want her new husband Jeremiah to enlist, but he joins up, hoping to make enough money that they'll be able to afford their own farm someday. Though she's always worked by her father’s side as the son he never had, now that Rosetta is a wife she's told her place is inside with the other women. But Rosetta decides her true place is with Jeremiah, no matter what that means, and to be with him she cuts off her hair, hems an old pair of his pants, and signs up as a Union soldier.
With the army desperate for recruits, Rosetta has no trouble volunteering, although she faces an incredulous husband. She drills with the men, proves she can be as good a soldier as anyone, and deals with the tension as her husband comes to grips with having a fighting wife. Rosetta's strong will clashes with Jeremiah's while their marriage is tested by broken conventions, constant danger, and war, and she fears discovery of her secret even as they fight for their future, and for their lives. Inspired by more than 250 documented accounts of the women who fought in the Civil War while disguised as men, I Shall Be Near To You is the intimate story, in Rosetta’s powerful and gorgeous voice, of the drama of marriage, one woman’s amazing exploits, and the tender love story that can unfold when two partners face life’s challenges side by side.
Rosetta doesn't want her new husband Jeremiah to enlist, but he joins up, hoping to make enough money that they'll be able to afford their own farm someday. Though she's always worked by her father’s side as the son he never had, now that Rosetta is a wife she's told her place is inside with the other women. But Rosetta decides her true place is with Jeremiah, no matter what that means, and to be with him she cuts off her hair, hems an old pair of his pants, and signs up as a Union soldier.
With the army desperate for recruits, Rosetta has no trouble volunteering, although she faces an incredulous husband. She drills with the men, proves she can be as good a soldier as anyone, and deals with the tension as her husband comes to grips with having a fighting wife. Rosetta's strong will clashes with Jeremiah's while their marriage is tested by broken conventions, constant danger, and war, and she fears discovery of her secret even as they fight for their future, and for their lives. Inspired by more than 250 documented accounts of the women who fought in the Civil War while disguised as men, I Shall Be Near To You is the intimate story, in Rosetta’s powerful and gorgeous voice, of the drama of marriage, one woman’s amazing exploits, and the tender love story that can unfold when two partners face life’s challenges side by side.
About The Author:
ERIN LINDSAY McCABE studied Literature at University of California, Santa Cruz, and taught high school English before completing her MFA at St. Mary's College of California in 2010. She has taught Composition at St. Mary's and Butte College and resides in Northern California with her husband and son and a small menagerie that includes one dog, four cats, two horses, ten chickens, and two goats.
ERIN LINDSAY McCABE studied Literature at University of California, Santa Cruz, and taught high school English before completing her MFA at St. Mary's College of California in 2010. She has taught Composition at St. Mary's and Butte College and resides in Northern California with her husband and son and a small menagerie that includes one dog, four cats, two horses, ten chickens, and two goats.
