Her Traitor's Heart

By Colleen Hall

Description:

For Coral Leigh, the Civil War took everything and everyone she loved: her fiancé, her brother, and her father. But when her mother dies of grief shortly after the war’s end, Coral’s plantation home, Elmwood, must be auctioned. Soon to be homeless, she fears becoming yet another casualty of the war.

Fortunately, help arrives in the handsome form of Clint Logan, a decorated general of the Union army, and part of the occupational forces stationed near her home. When the general kindly offers her employment, Coral decides her pride isn’t worth starvation.

As first friendship and then love blooms between them, Coral and Clint must contend with threats worse than the scrutiny of Southern society. Disenfranchised Confederate soldiers are causing trouble around town, and Coral must face the possibility of Clint’s death in the line of duty, along with her own social ostracism for daring to love a member of the despised Yankee army. She will have to decide if she’s ready to trust her heart’s new loyalties, even if it means forsaking everything she’s ever known.

Book Takeaway:

in order to achieve forgiveness for past anger and bitterness, we must overcome our pride. Pride stands in the way.

Why the author wrote this book:

One of my New England ancestors fought in the Civil War. After the war’s end, he was stationed in the South as part of the occupying forces. He developed a friendship with a Southern lady, and they carried on a correspondence after he returned home. Their letters were passed down in the family. As a child, I remember seeing his uniform in an old trunk in my grandparent's attic. The uniform was moth-eaten, but when I saw his boots, I thought to myself, “Those boots were really on his feet. He wore those boots.” From that time on, my ancestor was a real person to me. Her Traitor’s Heart isn’t really my Kimball ancestor’s story, but the seeds of the story were planted years ago when I saw that tattered uniform. As I researched the Reconstruction period, I discovered that the time was filled with hardship, tragedy, danger, and courage, all of which make a great story.