My Brother's Battle [Paperback]

Meredith Allard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2000

As the son of a Georgia planter, Benjamin Honeysuckle faces many challenges during the years of the American Civil War. He falls in love with Phoenix, his sister’s spirited and beautiful lady’s maid, but when their love is discovered Phoenix is sold, because though at this time one could use slaves, one could not love them. To free her, and to free himself from his own binding chains, Benjamin joins the Union Army. After the surrender of the Confederate forces at Appomattox, he returns home forever changed. At its heart, My Brother’s Battle is the story of a young man who struggles between what others will have him believe and what he knows in his heart to be true.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

My Brother's Battle was born from a sentence in Ken Burns' documentary about the Civil War. I became intrigued by the idea that brothers, who grew up in the same society, could wind up on opposing sides of the battlefield. As I researched the Civil War, I learned a new respect for the African-Americans held as slaves. I learned that they were resilient, and they had an inner-strength that their inhumane circumstances could not diminish. I became a different person through the writing of this novel because I had to confront my own fears, just as Benjamin in the story has to confront his.

About the Author

Meredith Allard is an author, teacher and lecturer from Los Angeles. She has her B.A. and M.A. degrees in English from California State University, Northridge. She is the editor-in-chief of The Copperfield Review, an on-line journal devoted to promoting literary historical fiction. She wrote My Brother's Battle after years of extensive research on the Civil War. My Brother's Battle is her first novel.

Product Details

• Paperback: 364 pages
• Publisher: Xlibris Corporation; 1st edition (June 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738821209
• ISBN-13: 978-0738821207
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,584,552 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Meredith Allard is the author of the paranormal/historical love story Her Dear & Loving Husband. She received her B.A and M.A. degrees from California State University, Northridge, and her writing has appeared in journals such as Wild Mind, Moondance, Muse Apprentice Guild, The Paumanok Review, Writers Weekly, and ViewsHound. Since 2000, she has been the executive editor of The Copperfield Review, an award-winning literary journal for readers and writers of historical fiction. Meredith has taught writing to students aged 10 to 60, and she has taught creative writing and writing historical fiction for Learning Tree University and UNLV. She lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. Visit Meredith online at www.meredithallard.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good honest read, May 7, 2003

By 

Kathy James (Detroit, Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Brother's Battle (Paperback)

I stumbled across this book on amazon.com and I was pleasantly surprised when I read it. I thought the character of Benjamin Honeysuckle was well drawn, and I thought that the historical details illuminated the story. This is a true and powerful story about the Civil War. It is also about how we must face our inner demons if we are going to win our public and private battles.

The author does a good job bringing us back to the mid 19th century. There is a poetic feel to the language that I enjoyed.

The battle scenes are very real, and they are written in a way to make us realize the horror of being at war. A very timely topic even though it was written about a time over 100 years ago.

I am not an avid fan of Civil War fiction, and I bought the novel because of the love story. It is a war story, a love story, a coming of age story, and so much more. I highly recommend My Brother's Battle to men and women.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For Readers Who Love History and the Civil War, August 18, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: My Brother's Battle (Paperback)

This is one of the most engrossing books I have read in a long time. The scenes are so vivid and detailed that I felt as if I was on the Georgia plantation and on the battlefields of the Civil War.

My Brother's Battle reminds me of Gone With the Wind or Killer Angels. The characters are engaging and realisitic, and I learned a lot about this time in American history.

I read the book in two days because I couldn't put it down. I highly recommend it and I can't wait for Meredith Allard's next book to come out.