Review of “Dreams of Savannah” by Roseanna M. White

PUBLISHER DESCRIPTION

Cordelia Owens can weave a hopeful dream around anything and is well used to winning the hearts of everyone in Savannah with her whimsy. Even when she receives word that her sweetheart has been lost during a raid on a Yankee vessel, she clings to hope and comes up with many a romantic tale of his eventual homecoming to reassure his mother and sister. But Phineas Dunn finds nothing redemptive in the first horrors of war. Struggling for months to make it home alive, he returns to Savannah injured and cynical, and all too sure that he is not the hero Cordelia seems determined to make him. Matters of black and white don’t seem so simple anymore to Phin, and despite her best efforts, Delia’s smiles can’t erase all the complications in his life. And when Fort Pulaski falls and the future wavers, they both must decide where the dreams of a new America will take them, and if they will go together.

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My Review:

This book touched my heart.  There are very few authors that I trust to write a historically accurate Civil War novel, but I’ve read many of Roseanna White’s books and felt like she could accomplish this.  I was not disappointed.  I think this book accurately portrays the difficulties surrounding this war.  It’s also a beautifully written romance of two people who love each other; find themselves separated because of the war; and separately come to realize that some of the ideas with which they’ve been raised need to be challenged and reevaluated.

Cordelia Owens (Delia) is a delightfully compassionate, bubbly, and imaginative young woman who has a talent for creating stories and has a desire to hopefully write a book and share them with the world.  She is also in love with a fine young man, Phineas Dunn, and is waiting for him to come back from the war.  However, a tragic circumstance delays his return, and Delia finds her sheltered world being changed by the war.  I also greatly admired Luther, an English freeman and pastor, who becomes friends with Phineas.  As they search for Luther’s wife in Savannah, both Phineas and Delia confront some of the different attitudes and opinions that prevail in Savannah. As the war draws closer and closer to Savannah, they must make some serious decisions about their future together.  There’s intrigue, mystery, romance, and some suspense in this storyline that keep me reading every spare moment I could find. 

I’ll be thinking for some time about this beautiful story and the message of faith, hope, and love that permeates the book.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher.  All opinions are my own.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award nominated author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.