Scarecrow in Gray: A Civil War Novel

Shades of Gray: A Novel of the Civil War in Virginia

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When Alex and Andrea argued it went on and on and on. And they kept arguing about the same thing. I understand that the author was trying to show how dedicated each was to their convictions but it got to the point that I was annoyed. At one point, when they were arguing it appeared that the author was practici I enjoyed most of this book.

At one point, when they were arguing it appeared that the author was practicing her alliteration skills because she used alliteration again and again and I got sick of it.

In spite of the faults, however, I did enjoy the book. The events near the end were sad and I did shed a few tears. The way the author resolved the story at the very end of the book seemed abrupt. One other thing I appreciated was that it was a sweet romance and they were in love, but it was not graphic at all.

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I don't enjoy reading vivid sexual descriptions so I was grateful to the author for skipping that! It was not a book I could not put down and I found myself pushing to get to the end. I was disappointed with much of the dialogue and what I perceived to be annoying back and forth petty arguments, when it was apparent that the two main characters had a love interest. But this kind of stuff annoys me, especially with a " seasoned" writer although I don't know if this is or is not the case with this author as this is the first book I've read by her.

The premise of the story was good, but somehow with petty background and foreground nonsense going on, it reads like a silly romance type novel. Sorry to be so harsh but I think it could have been a great book with the subject matter, had it been written in a more mature manner from a long time author with a good grasp of historical fiction. Storyline seemed true to history, though.

It had a bit more bad language than I was hoping but with the military theme I cant say I'm surprised. I thought some aspects were a bit tedious and long winded in the writing style but the story was superb. The author did her research about the period and it really gave me new perspective on the Confederate cause. There were times I was so frustrated with the characters' pride but it was true to the identity the author had b 3.

There were times I was so frustrated with the characters' pride but it was true to the identity the author had built for them. Really an amazing story. Overall, this book was okay. I have a weakness for women disguising themselves as men in historical novels, so I had high hopes for this story. Started very slowly, but I finished. I usually read novels much faster than I did this one.

Scarecrow in Gray by Barry D. Yelton

The two main characters argued way too much - the same circular argument over and over. Definitely hindered the flow of the story. How the flow of time was expressed bothered me. Days, even weeks, would be skipped at a time and there would be no indication that ti Overall, this book was okay. Days, even weeks, would be skipped at a time and there would be no indication that time had passed other than context clues. All of a sudden the characters would be referencing something you just read on the previous page, but apparently days had passed.

I felt like I was missing parts of the story in these gaps. The editing was sub par. They must have had a broken quotation marks key because there were so many missing. Usually I don't notice and don't care about typos and things of the sort, so when I do, it usually means it was pretty blatant.

But besides these flaws, I would have given the book 4 stars, except I really disliked the ending. I won't give anything away but the ending felt like it came out of no where, almost like it was from a different story or author. It didn't fit with the tone and direction the plot seemed to be heading. Others may enjoy the ending, so judge for yourself.

It may not be fair to review a book when I only read a quarter of it, but a quarter of it was enough to see that it is poorly written. As a huge fan of historical fiction and Gone With the Wind in particular, I find such comparisons offensive and I'm shocked by the high ratings it has received from many people. The dialogue was repetitive and contrived, the story jumped around aimlessly and the character development was substandard.

It also switched perspective in 3rd person sort of limited in a It may not be fair to review a book when I only read a quarter of it, but a quarter of it was enough to see that it is poorly written. It also switched perspective in 3rd person sort of limited in an awkward way at times. Life is to short to finish reading a bad book, so I'm calling it quits with this one. Maybe it's fans of cheap romance novels that enjoy this one, but it's certainly not for me. Jun 04, Jwls Mac Ray rated it it was amazing Shelves: A story of a young girl who is portraying a boy to be a part of the civil war. And finding trust and love.

I read this in one day. I laughed and I cried. It is rare, then, to look upon the war and see beyond the issues to the people, the flesh and blood, whose lives and loyalties were tested in a bitter and deadly upheaval of American history. Yet author Jessica James, in her novel Shades of Gray: A Novel of the Civil War in Virginia or Tale of the War for Southern Independence in the Old Dominion, has developed a portal, if you will, that enables her readers to peer into history and do just that.

Virginia in sees a well known Confederate officer, Captain Alexander Hunter, along with his small yet loyal group of soldiers, strike fear and awe into the minds of the Union army. Virginia also hears echoes of rumors of an unknown yet crucial Union spy named Andrea Evans, who serves as a continuous source of frustration and irritation for the Confederacy and for Captain Hunter in particular. The war soon deals the two sworn enemies an interesting hand that will change the course of their lives forever.

Bound by a deathbed promise to a mutual loved one, Alex and Andrea soon find themselves in uncomfortable territory. Equally strong in their convictions and loyalties, each are determined to defend their country and home. These two seemingly opposite individuals, forced to keep uncomfortable company, must somehow find a way to reconcile or, at the least, come to an understanding of terms if either are to survive the war with lives and hearts intact.

As their unwelcome truce lingers, both Alex and Andrea must look beyond the uniform, beyond the issues, and beyond the flags. They begin looking to the shades of gray where the stark humanity, the pride of home, the love and laughter that reside in each lie. Jessica James has produced a tremendous and wonderful saga about love, loyalty and honor for which she must be lauded.

I read this during my recent trip to Gettysburg. This is a great civil war novel. It is a little long, but it is worth spending your time on it. Well I should probably tell you the truth here, it is pages. It contains espionage, love, war, and lots of conflict. The chapters are fairly short so one could read this in small doses. I purchased this for myself in Gettysburg. Yes and you guessed it, I paid way too much for it there.

Scarecrow in Gray

It was written in Yes, I have to admit I was attracted to t I read this during my recent trip to Gettysburg. Yes, I have to admit I was attracted to the cover. I am a sucker for anything purple. It is my favorite color. I think it is a great cover. This is an award winning book. It won the John Esten Cooke award for Ficiton , just to name one. Beware this is the same novel as Nobel Cause. It is the same book as Shades of Gray with a new ending. Hmm is this just another way to make money?

Scarecrow in Gray (Paperback, 2nd)

Well I want to say that I loved this book!! It kept my interest all the way through. It is action packed and full of events. The main character Andrea is a very strong woman. You probably know by now that I like books with strong female characters. She is a spy for the union army, but was born and bred in Virginia. She is strong in her anti-slavery beliefs and loyal to the union.

She falls in love with Colonel Hunter who is a legendary leader of the southern army. This is no doubt going to cause some problems.

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There is also Victoria who is the southern belle in love with Colonel Hunter. This book is beautifully written and just sails along. It is an experiment by a great writer. It is a indulgent exercise by a doddering old Englishman. And it is possibly the greatest book ever written from the point of view of a horse It isn't precisely a good book, and it definitely might be a bad boo In my life I have read many books, and this is one of the weirdest.

It isn't precisely a good book, and it definitely might be a bad book but not bad in a bad way. Normally when I read a book on the American Civil War my first question is, what about slavery? What's this book's opinion on slaves? Traveller has no opinion on slavery. As far as he's concerned the Civil War had no effect whatsoever on the sort of slavery that he's born into. So is this a coded plea for animal rights? Considering the author, I had my suspicions. And then something truly baffling happened.

I very rarely give spoiler warnings, but if you have any serious intention of reading this book, you might want to skip this part or you will not be able to read the book in the way the author intended. Simply giving you this information will influence your feelings about the book the entire time and the giant synaptic "jump" at the end of the book, where Adams attempts to actually put you in the head of a horse, will not play quite out the same.

I'm not saying it won't be a good book, but it won't be the same. Okay, the horse thinks that the South won the Civil War. Which is so insane that it must be true. But this is deeply undone by the long and winding middle of the book. Adams is obviously one of those weird British aficionados of the American Civil War, might even be one of those guys who goes out to a field near Colchester or something to re-enact Antietam.

It's a real thing, look it up, they really do American Civil War re-enactments in England. Either way, Adams's middle-aged delight in knowing all the battles of the Civil War possesses him at some point, and he can't resist introducing you to all the officers of Lee's high command and their horses and taking you step-by-step through four years of war, every battle, every skirmish.

I bet it's all historically accurate, too. When it's so dense and complex that it's obvious that not even a talking horse could understand it, then Adams actually squishes in news dispatches written in a sort of newspaper jargon, conveniently translating what just happened from "horse" to "history. Basically the middle part is much, much too long to maintain the illusion that it's anything other than a magical talking horse.

The real horse-y parts, at the beginning and end, are undermined by Mr. Ed Goes To War in the middle. The ending, in which Traveller doesn't exactly understand that General Lee has passed away, doesn't really work in the same book as Traveller the Civil War Correspondent who tells us Stonewall Jackson was shot by one of his own sentries at the Battle of Chancellorville.

Either a horse knows the news or he don't, but you can't change your mind mid-novel. This book is marbled through and through with deep streaks of illogic and unseemliness.

I was curious how the horse would deal with the starving soldiers eating horses, but that never comes up at all. He knows enough English to make fun of a German guy's accent but not enough to know what the word "war" means. Perhaps worst of all, Traveller's opinion of slavery is sufficient for a horse, but not sufficient for Mr. There are a lot of problems like that. But, like I said, this book does a better job of getting inside a horse's head than any other book I've ever read At times it really works. The American Civil War must be one of the greatest slaughters of horses in human history, and it's an important story that deserves to be told, and to be told from this particular and bizarre point of view.

I only wish Adams had worked on it, not as a professional producing a book for the public, but as a maniac who can't let something go for decades. This book needed another decade of editing and polishing and general re-jiggering. Not a year, a decade. The quest to get into a horse's head can only succeed through discipline, research, and astounding leaps of intuition. The only way to do that is time.

Lots and lots and lots of time. And if you don't know anything about the American Civil War, you are definitely going to be confused. However, this story raises some really important questions. Modern readers simply cannot get into the mindset of a slave. It is far too foreign. We can perhaps imagine what it's like to be a field hand and to be beaten into obedience every day, but the life of a "faithful slave" is impossible. We can't begin to imagine what it must have been like to be an uneducated, deeply oppressed individual who sides with their own oppressors against the very people who are fighting to free them.

The closest mental framework that we have is found in animals and pets. The only door for a modern reader to understand how the slaves felt about the people who held them in bondage is through an animal metaphor, and this book does a better job of explaining how a "faithful slave" might have seen their owners during the Civil War than any other book I've ever read. The South was a time and a place when they were literally forcing human beings to live like animals, so it sort of works.

Traveller is, on some level, a house slave's view of the Civil War from the South's side. That's a tremendously important and tremendously difficult story. On the whole, I'm glad that I read this maddening, baffling, trivial, indulgent, tremendously experimental and courageous novel.

It's a story that needs to be told, and maybe needs to be told better, but this is a good start.

Maybe this needs to be a genre. Plus, it definitely got me thinking. There are few books that have made me wonder like this one. Aug 06, Jennifer rated it it was amazing Shelves: I loved this book through and through. Richard Adams takes you into a horse's mind in a compelling and heart stirring way sounds corny saying that. When first contemplating reading Traveller a bit a sheepishness rises as you pull the book off the shelf and you wonder how an author could write a book about a horse for adults. Aren't horse books for young girls?

But, let me tell you, this book is powerful and there's depths in it that probably little girls couldn't begin to fathom. Mar 27, Joel rated it liked it. The story of the Civil War from the perspective of General Lee's horse. I guess I was hoping this would be a story about a horse with the Civil War stuff used as background, but it was very focused on telling the straight-forward story of the Civil War.

It was structured around Lee's battles and campaigning. It is more engaging and literary than reading a history textbook or even a lot of historical war fiction. If you want an account of the Civil War with an interesting, distinctive narrator, t The story of the Civil War from the perspective of General Lee's horse. If you want an account of the Civil War with an interesting, distinctive narrator, this is a good choice. It just isn't another Watership Down. Aug 22, Beth added it. A sensitive and compassionate story told from the viewpoint of Genral Robert E.

Travellor narrates a quaisi-history of his life and times as Lee's horse during the trials and tribulations of the Civil War. Adams does an excellent work in giving the horse life and character. As with all fiction, Adams takes liberty in giving human and horse characters personality, feeling and depth all while attempting to maintain a measure of historical accuracy. Aug 06, Art rated it it was amazing. Jul 27, Kristal Cooper added it. Another very creative novel from Richard Adams!

Traveller's southern drawl and country colloquialisms are just charming. Unfortunately, he often doesn't know the names of the battles, towns, or soldiers that he's describing. I could only have liked this book better if I remembered more about the Civil War from my history classes 20 years ago.

Luckily, my husband recently watched the Ken Burns se Another very creative novel from Richard Adams! Luckily, my husband recently watched the Ken Burns series on the subject, so he was able to answer many of my questions. Sep 02, Dark-Draco rated it really liked it Shelves: This novel is written in the style of Black Beauty, where Traveller tells his story. From his young days on the farm through the campaigns of the American civil war, he becomes the trusted horse of General Robert E Lee.

The book is well written and you really get the sense of the horse trying to puzzle out the things he sees and does. From his point of view, the 'Blue Men' are the enemy and 'Marse Roberts' the man to give them a good seeing too. It's a book you can enjoy and smile at, even thoug This novel is written in the style of Black Beauty, where Traveller tells his story. It's a book you can enjoy and smile at, even though some of the scenes are really harrowing, but Traveller's gentle nature sees him through.

May 08, Laurie rated it it was amazing. I loved the book. It's a interesting method which keeps the reader's attention while displaying valid information about the Civil War and Robert E. It is told through the point of view of Lee's trusted steed, Traveller. If you like history AND something a little bit different, you will enjoy this book. I think you will, too. This could have been so much better than it was. Men were dropped everywhere, most dead where they fell.

Forced to become a soldier and fight a war in which he has no stake, Francis struggles to come to grips with his new role. Blood and battle threaten to transform Francis from a man of peace to a brutal warrior, and he struggles to hold on to his ideals. Wracked with doubt and guilt, tormented by the violent acts he has been forced to commit, Francis looks to his faith in God and to the memory of his devoted wife and loving children to sustain him through the dark night of war's insensate butchery. Battle after battle, through hailstorms of lead and waves of cold steel, Francis fights to survive.

Will he ever see home again? Paperback , pages. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Scarecrow in Gray , please sign up. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Oct 29, Paul rated it really liked it. Francis Yelton actual ancestor of the author is a reluctant participant in the last months of the Civil War.

He would much rather stay on his North Carolina farm, but, he also does not want to be known as the 19th Century equivalent of a draft dodger. These are desperate times for the Southerners. The men are haggard, exhausted collections of skin and bones. Starvation is an everyday concern; when there Francis Yelton actual ancestor of the author is a reluctant participant in the last months of the Civil War.

Starvation is an everyday concern; when there is food, which is rare, it is usually moldy and inedible. More men are lost to disease and desertion than to northern artillery. Deserters are usually shot on sight. Alongside small pockets of humanity, Whit and Francis see the horror of war, up close and personal.

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