Hallam's War
Aug 6, 2009
Hallam's War
Author: Elizabeth Payne Rosen
Publisher: Berkley Trade Paperback/Penguin Group
Publication Date: August 4, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-425-22846-3
Set in the years before and during the Civil War, this is a fantastic book dealing with humanity, inhumanity, where those lines blur and if the decisions made in one's life are the correct ones.
Hugh and Serena Hallam have made a life with their 3 children in Tennessee. They've left the genteel life of city dwellers in Charleston behind years ago. Hugh is making a small but successful life for his family as a planter. He's studied agriculture intensely and follows the recommended usage and resting periods of the land while his fellow planters continue to wear down the land with the constant turn of cotton.
They own a small contingent of slaves and while Hugh believes that he treats them most fairly and humanely, he is also confused by niggling thoughts. Is it right to own other people? He believes in their intelligence, he allows them to use their wits, he even provides them payoff amounts for their freedom, but at the same time, they are his slaves at the current moment and he uses them as such.
Serena treats the house slaves kindly and sees to all their needs, doing for herself at times if they are not about, but they are always still slaves to her, always there for her in the end.
She fully admits that she lives in a bubble where she chooses not to always "see the reality" in
front of her.
Their neighbors are rough slave owners and while they do not agree with their ways, Hugh and Serena also would not think of interfering with how they treat their people. They may not agree, but those slaves are another man's property.
When the Civil War comes Hugh heads off to lead a troop, leaving Serena at home to continue planting. He also leaves his most trusted slave in charge of the plantation, promising him freedom as soon as he returns home from war. He feels secure in his plan and trusts French completely to keep his wife safe.
If you are a Civil War buff, the middle of the book starts your dream story. Many, many details of the battles in the South, and the strategies behind those battles, are in this book. In between those battles, is Serena's personal battle to keep her land strong and fruitful, keep the neighbors from trying to take it over from her, and handling the loss of her slaves that she depended on as they slowly disappear into the woods as they make a run for freedom. There's also Hugh's battle to help win the war and bring to fruition his deepest wish, which is to go home to his land and his family.
A wonderful book with realism running through it's pages. A story that will make you think.
Are the Hallams good people leading good lives since they treat their slaves humanely and with true kindness - or are they bad people because they own others who have no right to their own lives and ignore blatant injustices of other slaves simply because they don't own them?
Are they both?
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*** found this interview by Elizabeth Payne Rosen regarding the book - it might be of interest to you*** CLICK HERE
Author's website http://www.
