Patriot Heart (Journey Home Series 1)

By Diane Kalas

Description:

May 1865. Dan Goodman’s not fully recovered from his POW captivity and keeping a secret: he thinks he is losing his mind and unfit for marriage, his heart’s desire. He plans to travel to Oregon to put Andersonville Prison behind him. Letty Talbot is a world-weary steamboat songstress, traveling with her brother. When a gambler kills her brother, cheating at cards, Dan introduces Letty to the One who will forgive her past and give her a future. Letty makes an adjustment: right into the path of Dan Goodman’s life. She opens a supply depot for emigrants going out West and talks Dan into building the prairie schooners, hoping to keep him from leaving for Oregon. Meanwhile, famed Civil War nurse, Clara Barton, involves Dan in the first trial in US history for war crimes. Dan testifies against the Commandant of Andersonville and begins to heal. Irresistibly drawn to each other, Dan and Letty butt heads, but manage to fall in love as they stand at the crossroads of their lives. Letting go of the past, they embrace the future together, the one God planned for them all along.

Book Takeaway:

Never give up hope for recovery whatever the issues in a person's life. Keep the focus on God, the Redeemer who loves us.

Why the author wrote this book:

I wrote Patriot Heart to show a Christian veteran of the Civil War recover from soldier's fatigue (PTSD today). His struggle is heartbreaking because of the limited knowledge of emotional trauma in 1865. His recovery is uplifting and encouraging to read.