Deep in the Heart [Paperback]

E.Randall Floyd (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1998

True account of seven brothers who fought for the Confederacy and the fate of their Georgia hometown during Sherman's invasion.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Based on actual letters written by Civil War soldier Wiley Nesmith to his wife, this surprisingly lifeless novel chronicles the young Confederate private's combat hardships with the Army of Northern Virginia. Wiley is ordered to leave his pregnant teenage wife on their Georgia farm in the spring of 1862; with his six older brothers, he marches off to the war. Surviving numerous bloody battles, he does not return home until after Lee's surrender in 1865. While the narrative generally fails to realize the dramatic impact of the conflict, Floyd does animate the plight of Wiley's "petite and perky" wife, Martha Ann, who faces down marauders on the home front. These flashes of life are wasted, however, amid a hodgepodge of woodenly rendered characters and pedestrian plot threads (including the moribund cliche of the kindly paternal bond between slave and master). Occasionally overwritten, Floyd's (Great Southern Mysteries) prose is more often curiously flat and squeaky clean ("Peas and dumplings! That was his favorite dish. A broad smile broke across his tanned, dirty face"). One feels that the novel might have been more successfully addressed to young readers than to adults.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

A packet of love letters written by a Confederate soldier to his wife between 1862 and 1864 forms the basis for this Civil War novel of love, ideals, and commitment. Set in east central Georgia and the Southern theater, it is the story of Wiley Nesmith and his wife, Martha Ann, married on the day that news of war first reached their hometown. Separated soon after, Wiley and Martha Ann communicate through letters while he serves with the Army of Northern Virginia, protecting Richmond from Yankee invasion and thus experiencing some of the bloodiest action of the war. Meanwhile, Martha Ann waits for Wiley, bears their first child, and hides with a family of freed slaves as Sherman's army marches through Georgia. There's a lot of history here, made vivid and personal by interwoven stories of love, heroism, cowardice, and death. A quality historical romance from the author of Ghost Lights (August House, 1993); well recommended. [Another fine Civil War novel is Donald McCaig's Jacob's Ladder, LJ 4/1/98.AEd.]AThomas L. Kilpatrick, Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondal.
-AThomas L. Kilpatrick, Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondale
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 382 pages
• Publisher: Harbor House (August 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1891799207
• ISBN-13: 978-1891799204
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A well-written book about personal struggle and loss, June 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Deep in the Heart (Paperback)

I am a Civil War buff, but I will be the first to admit I don't know every detail about every battle, so I can't account for the accuracy. At first I had a hard time accepting Floyd's writing style. He seemed to write in an almost remedial way and jumped around a lot. Over time, however, I grew to like the style for this particular book. I wanted to know how every character felt at every moment and Floyd lets you know. Overall, I liked it better than I thought I would. If you tire of reading the nonfiction battle accounts, this is a nice change of pace, still capturing the essense of the war.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointed, October 7, 2005

By 

Edgar H. Wynn, Jr. "Old Turpentine Dipper" (Carrollton, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Deep in the Heart (Paperback)

I heard this author interviewed on Georgia Public Radio and was excited to hear about the book, because my great-great grandfather was in the same Company A of Georgia's 49th Regiment as was the book's main character. What a let-down. I have never been so disappointed in a book. I thought it was very poorly written. Amateurish even. I could not even finish the book, because I was so disappointed at how poorly it was done. There was no sense of setting or characterization, or feeling for the characters. They felt like cardboard cut-outs. "Cold Mountain," this ain't.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Painful History, April 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Deep in the Heart (Paperback)

Deep in the Heart opened my eyes to the war in a way I never thought imaginable. As a citizen of Germany, I always thought what I read about the American Civil War was phoney--too much Hollywood! Herr Floyd's tale touched me deeply as an honest portrayal of the people and events of that period. A word to Hollywood: Keep Scarlett O'Hara and Tara plantation--give me more people like Martha Ann NeSmith and Wilkinson County, Georgia!