kattsvans

Public library copy, hardcover 1969 edition. I previously read this paperback edition in the 1970s. I figure 40 years is soon enough to re-read a book :-) I loved them then, and I love them now. This book is so good it deserves a review. It would be a shame if it went unread by readers who think this book is out-dated and not up to current writing standards. It was written 47 years ago, but because it is so well written, the content is timeless. New Moon Rising is the second in the St. Simons Trilogy, set on the Gould plantations on St. Simons Island, Georgia in the decades leading up to and during the Civil War. It is a story of character, mainly that of Horace Bunch Gould, and of the issue of slavery which nearly divided our beloved country. It is also a story of faith, but that is not in the forefront. All but a few of the characters in this book are factual, using their real names. The author was a transplanted northerner (she says 'ex-northerner') who lived on the island herself for many years. The story is a marvelous weaving of plot, character, and history bathed in the rich description of Miss Price's (and Horace Gould's) beloved island. You could easily say the book was about Horace Gould, or you could equally say it is about St. Simons, or about slavery and the Civil War, or about faith, or relationships or personal growth or human loss or about learning to love both people and place. There is depth if you seek it, there is beauty, there is tragedy, there is real life. If you are looking for a light romance, this is not it. There is romance in the book, but it is rather out of the ordinary. I like it. This is my kind of book. The reason I gave it four stars is that it took me at least fifty pages to get into it. The beginning of the book, no spoilers, is not indicative of the book as a whole. Once I got into it, it was hard to put down. I was there. As to the issue of slavery, and race. There are some books written before or during the Civil Rights Movement in this country which should be re-written or tossed. This book handles it in a timeless manner. This is not another Gone With the Wind. I don't want to give it away, but I can't imagine anyone of any race being offended by this book. It is timeless and wonderful. Read it and see. Look forward to re-reading the third book in the trilogy, The Beloved Invader.

2020-12-24 03:57