SUNFLOWER SISTERS by Martha Hall Kelly
Martha Hall Kelly burst on to the literary scene in 2016 with the publication of her best selling novel THE LILAC GIRLS. This was followed by LOST ROSES in 2019 whIch was another major success in the book world. Now she has created a new novel, SUNFLOWER SISTERS, which might just be her best book to date.
This sweeping saga of life during the Civil War presents us with three major characters whose lives are intertwined in the most impossible of circumstances. Georgy Woolsey is the daughter of a prominent New York family and is one of seven sisters. She also has a younger brother. Her family is staunchly against slavery and this leads Georgy to pursue her dream of nursing. With the help of some influential friends she finds herself serving as a nurse in the heat of battle.
Jemma is a young woman who is a slave on a Maryland plantation. Although she is fortunate to have her family at the same plantation she longs to be free. As the war begins Jemma’s life becomes more and more tragic. She suffers both physical and emotional cruelty at the hands of her mistress, Anne-May Wilson.
Anne-May is a woman of wealth and status when the war starts. She has inherited the plantation on which she and her husband live. But as the war builds so does Anne-May’s determination to hang on to every scrap of her past life she can. She will do this by hook or by crook and always with her own well being at the forefront of her mind.
As written by Martha Kelly Hall these characters are perfectly defined as are their plots. You get a glimpse where everything is headed but you have to wait for Hall to fill in the details. And detail is where Hall soars. She has an immense knowledge of this era and of the people and places that existed. As you read her words you are transported back to the past with all of its beauty and ugliness.
Martha Kelly Hall balances her story with tales of honor and courage versus stories of cruelty and hate. This is reflected in the leading characters as well as the supporting ones. This was an age of contrasts and Hall knows she is required to show all aspects. Her story is a journey and it is a hard journey to describe.
SUNFLOWER SISTERS is a book that stands as evidence of the research Hall has done. The Woolseys were actual people. Hall has taken their history and novelized it and this makes Georgy’s triumphs all the more exciting.
Martha Kelley Hall is a writer of enormous merit. She has the ability to cover a reader in history while making the story exciting and emotional. She is three for three now and her growing number of fans can not wait to see what comes next.
SUNFLOWER SISTERS is published by BALLANTINE BOOKS. It contains 528 pages and sells for $28.00.
Jackie K Cooper
www.jackiekcooper.com
