The first time I picked up this book to read it, I was like WTH, I could not figure out what was going on and being as there were many books coming out on January 10th, I put it aside and picked another book. Then when it was the last one left to read for that day, I picked it back up.

Why, after I got into it, had I kicked it to the floor? This was actually a great book told in a series of letters of a young wife, who had married Mr. Hockaday (a widower with a young son) and who after two days was called back to the Revolutionary War. She was about 17 years old and was left to take care of a young child, several hundred acre farm with stock and produce goods, slaves and the upkeep of all these items. She came from a well to do family and had never had to worry about these things in her life.

Not only that, there were men who passed themselves off as military men and would steal from the farmers and take what they want. It was a horrible time. I felt so sorry for this poor woman and what she had to go through.

This journey I went on with her was absolutely eye opening, interesting, informative, entertaining, horrifying, sad, emotional, dispiriting and I am certainly glad I did not live during this era. The author took me back to this time and I relived this era through her eyes. A very entertaining and sad journey that I will not forget.

Huge thanks to Algonquin Books for approving my request and to Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

I guess most of the mystery in The Second Mrs. Hockaday by Susan Rivers early on in the book. What keeps me reading is the author's ability to place the reader in the civil war era and to see the trials of the women the soldiers left behind. The first person epistolary format works well to bring to life the images of scarcity, deprivations, raiders and looters, survival and slavery. For that history, the book is a captivating story.

Read my complete review at Memories From Books - The Second Mrs. Hockaday

Reviewed based on a publisher’s galley received through NetGalley

Placidia only knew her future husband for 48 hours before she married him. They met when he bought a mule from her father and fell in fascination (if not love) dancing at her step-sister’s wedding. But the new Mrs. Hockaday is separated from her new husband when he is summoned back to Stonewall Jackson’s regiment two days after the wedding. They two of them remain apart until the end of the Civil War. The Second Mrs. Hockaday, by Susan Rivers, is told in letters and documents as others try to figure out what happened during the Hockadays’ separation, Placidia’s trial for infanticide, and the aftermath...

Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for review consideration.

This haunting novel takes place during the Civil War. Placidia is only 17 years old when the older Major Gryffith Hockaday speaks to her father about the possibility of marrying her.  Major Hockaday’s wife has died and left him with a young son.  He and Placidia are married within days of meeting and are only married two days when Major Hockaday has to return to the war.  He leaves young Placidia to run their farm and to care for his young son.  When he returns from the war two years later, Placidia is accused of murdering the baby she bore out of wedlock.

This is a beautifully written book, told through letters and diary entries. The chapters are short and Ms. Rivers is quite good at giving just enough information in each chapter to keep you turning the pages.  It’s a compulsive read and a very intriguing one.  The love story is very touching.  This is a debut novel for Susan Rivers and I think she’s a talent to be reckoned with.  Recommended.

This book was won by me in a contest given by the publisher through LibraryThing with the implied understanding that I would give an honest review.