Customer Reviews

When This Cruel War Is Over: A Novel of the Civil War

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Fleming is trying to write character-driven "literary" historical fiction here, and he oversteps his ability somewhat. The problems and motivations of the characters -- primarily Stapleton, the Union officer torn between two sides; his Rebel and proto-feminist "adventuress" fiancee; and the one-armed Colonel Gentry; are clearly carefully thought out. However, I found the overall premise, that of a giant Copperhead conspiracy to make the Midwest secede from the Union, improbable; though the note at the back of the book says it is historically accurate, I did not find this to ring true. Likewise, Gentry's letters, though supposedly taken from nineteenth century originals, do not sound period. Overall, the author clearly put a good deal of effort into the book, but it is a type of book which requires interesting and fresh use of language to succeed, and this is where he falls short of the mark. The writing here is mundane and somewhat flat, despite efforts at "literary" language. The book is also rather heavy on character interactions and "telling" how characters feel, while comparatively light on real action. The author makes the common error of introducing rather badly recreated historical characters from Davis to Booth. I wouldn't call the book an utter failure, but I found myself getting bored 3/4 of the way through.