The Rebel Bride by Shannon McNear - ADVISABLE

The Rebel Bride by Shannon McNear, 256 pages. Barbour Publishing Inc., 2019. $13.

Language: PG (6 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

When Josh signed up to fight for the Union, he couldn’t have imagined the suffering he would witness and go through for the cause. As a good, Christian Southern woman, Pearl cannot refuse hospitality to the wounded enemies placed in her home for care -- even if they fight against the Confederate cause her family supports. Josh and Pearl both believe in the cause of their side of the war, but will those beliefs blind them to the good that can be found on either side?

I love the unique perspective that McNear’s book gives to the Civil War (continued beyond the fiction to the historical notes she gives after the epilogue). War is always messy, and I feel that civil war is especially so because countrymen fight against countrymen for the land they all love, all of which is illustrated and felt through the struggles of Pearl and Josh. However, I found the title to be misleading as the main characters are not wed for most of the book, which irritated me as I read and anticipated the time when the title would prove true.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen