Confederado
Jul 31, 2012
Author: Casey Clabough
Publisher: Ingalls Publishing Group
Publication Date: September, 2012
(although the book carries a September release date, it is already available for immediate order in print, Kindle, and Nook forms from Amazon and B&N)
Book Description:
Alvis Stevens has a price on his head. The death of one abusive federal occupation soldier in the wake of the Civil War weighs more heavily upon him than all of the men he killed during the conflict as a member of Mosby's Rangers. The devastation visited upon the South already has forced some of its citizens to seek new lives abroad; among them, Lavinia, the prewar love Alvis believes he has lost forever. At the urging of his uncle, Thomas Bocock, Alvis seeks to evade his pursuers and join the migration to Brazil. Based on a true story and rich in historical events and personages, Confederado records one man's epic adventure across wars and hemispheres.
Idgie Says:
I have had the pleasure just a few times of coming across writing that is so pleasing to the eye and "mind-ear" that the book can be enjoyed regardless of the content. Not only is Confederado one of those books, but it includes the bonus of a fantastic story to go with the writing. This book is filled with rich, vibrant language. From the descriptions of the landscape to a galloping horse's muscles to the thoughts and fears in Alvis' mind - it's all there in a beautiful flow of words and phrases.
The story itself grabs your attention. It's based on factual events during that time in the United States, but the story itself is fiction.
Alvis fought for the Confederacy for 4 long years before coming home half starved and on the edge of final exhaustion. Along with him returns his father, who in the end does not survive his injuries, and his brother, who is also laid up in bed for a time. Alvis is barely back on his feet and trying to find a way to keep the family alive with what little they have when an altercation with a Union soldier requires that he flee in the night.
His Uncle arranges passage to Brazil. At first Alvis is reluctant to take on this journey, until he discovers that his pre-war love fled to Brazil with her family during the battles that savaged the land.
So begins Alvis' journey to a foreign country to try to get in on the land-grab occurring, flee the Union law officers that now have a bounty on his head, and perhaps find the woman he's never forgotten. He has to endure many hardships along the way, including the language barrier and lonely women.
I was with Alvis every step of the way and I felt each emotion. A story I didn't want to end.
I highly recommend this book.
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Reviewed by Idgie. If you would like to have the Dew review a book, please contact me at dewonthekudzu@gmail.com
