First published 1988
This collection brings together fictional accounts that illuminate the lives of women during the American Civil War. McSherry assembles stories that reveal how the conflict transformed ordinary women into nurses, spies, soldiers, and survivors. The narratives explore both Union and Confederate perspectives, showing women who disguised themselves to fight alongside men, those who tended wounded soldiers in makeshift hospitals, and families torn apart by divided loyalties. These tales capture the resourcefulness required when husbands and sons marched away, leaving women to manage farms, businesses, and households alone. The stories reveal the particular hardships women faced during this tumultuous period, from food shortages and military occupation to the constant fear of losing loved ones. Through these fictional accounts, readers encounter the courage, sacrifice, and resilience that defined women's experiences during America's bloodiest conflict.
Genres: american-civil-war, american-fiction, historical-fiction
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, survival
Setting: United States
Period: Civil War, 1861-1865
175 pages · Paperback · August House