Blessed Shadows Dark and Deep (Book) - 7/10/2018 7:37:41 AM
Welcome to AD, hope to see more of your work soon.
Mebbe a short story or two, a poem, an article to bring more attention to your den.
Wishes for much success with your book! WBTS is always grist for a good novel, and/or historical write
Never Stop Writing!!
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Blessed Shadows Dark and Deep (Book) - 4/16/2018 5:04:24 AM
A Thinking Man’s Civil War Novel
As our protagonist Bill explains, “These shadows, the darkness, these deep woods . . . they make me nervous.” And well they should because Bill is right in the thick of the tumultuous battles and times of the Civil War as depicted in this fine, smart, evocative novel by Michael Staton. Told through Bill’s experiences as a Confederate soldier in North Carolina, Blessed Shadows Dark and Deep offers a broad and deep understanding of the way that war reshaped the lives and ideas of its participants.
While Staton spins intense, exciting battle scenes at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, he also wonderfully captures all the dead time in between, whether it be ugly marches across icy scree or those awful moments of constant waiting. Those moments are filled with clever lively dialogue from both Bill’s friends like Charlie and O’Rourke and historical icons like Robert E. Lee, A.P. Hill, and the legendary spy Rose O’Neal Greenhow. Besides his time as a soldier and later a recruiter, Bill serves as a nurse giving witness to the brutal aftermath of these battles, including the amputations. Yet balanced with these rough scenes are tender ones, like Bill’s reading poetry to the dying General Gregg.
Blessed Shadows Dark and Deep possesses greater layers of depth and gravity than most historical war novels. Bill is cursed with a particular sense of impending doom even beyond his fellow soldiers since he sees halos (aureoles) flaring around individuals as a presage to death. This ability leads Staton through Bill’s ruminations toward deeper philosopher questions about fate and the role of destiny. Furthermore, Bill and his family spend a great deal of time discussing the problems of slavery – on a macro level with the overall political and military outlook and on a micro level with the family’s slaves Malinda and Wilson. Despite knowing they want to free Malinda and Wilson, the family members have real world fears that the slaves will be killed upon liberation and that their home and business will be burned to the ground by hard-core confederates.
Staton manages to ground the novel in these strong historical and intellectual foundations, yet still offer a fun and exciting read. Bill’s blossoming romances with both Becky and Frannie pop with clever dialogue. In fact, Staton has populated his novel with many smart and witty women, who serve as a civilizing counterweight to the rash and amusing young soldiers.
Blessed Shadows Dark and Deep satisfies right down to Bill’s final, daring, heroic act and delivers on romantic possibilities presented over the course of the novel. That ending hints to a sequel, which would be most welcome, since the novel is quite compelling and Staton has a tremendous grasp of the Civil War period and the lives of those who negotiated it.
