Today's KDD: The Spy Lover, by Kiana Davenport. Normally $9.99, now $1.99!80% off, today only! 305 pages. 23 of 26 reviews four stars and above.
Amazon reviewer Jeanette says "American Civil War fiction is not a genre I seek out, but when I saw Kiana Davenport's name on this one, I couldn't resist. She always provides fresh angles on old stories. I can count on her to teach me something new, with facts as well as points of view.
I didn't know that Chinese immigrant men had been kidnapped and forced into service as Confederate soldiers. I also didn't know that women in the South grew opium poppies hidden among their other crops, providing opium "bull's-eyes" to their fighting men to fuel their victories in battle. This of course left a nation full of dope-addicted veterans when the war was over.
THE SPY LOVER is smaller in scope and time frame than Davenport's sweeping novels of Hawaii. This one is meant as an homage to two of her ancestors who fought in the Civil War, so the focus is more narrow and there is less opportunity to add complex layers to the characters. The story is told almost entirely in the present tense, which is not my favorite, but I was able to adjust to it as the novel progressed."
Thrust into the savagery of the Civil War, a Chinese immigrant serving in the Union Army, a nurse doubling as a spy for the North, and a one-armed Confederate cavalryman find their lives inextricably entwined.
Fleeing drought and famine in China, Johnny Tom arrives in America with dreams of becoming a citizen. Having survived vigilantes hunting "yellow dogs" and slave auction-blocks, Johnny is kidnapped from his Mississippi village by Confederate soldiers, taken from his wife and daughter, and forced to fight for the South. Eventually defecting to the Union side, he is promised American citizenship in exchange for his loyal services. But first Johnny must survive the butchery of battles and the cruelties inflicted on non-white soldiers.
Desperate to find Johnny, his daughter, Era, is enlisted as a spy. She agrees to work as a nurse at Confederate camps while scouting for the North. Amidst the unspeakable carnage of wounded soldiers, she finds solace in Warren Petticomb, a cavalryman who lost an arm at Shiloh. As devastation mounts in both armies, Era must choose where her loyalties lie with her beloved father in the North, or with the man who passionately sustains her in the South.
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Happy Reading!
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