Laurel Monteille Covey, had she lived today, would have a
nice neat diagnosis of a terrible problem: post traumatic
stress disorder. But as a nurse during the Civil War, she
has no such knowledge of that disorder and instead suffers
nightmares and the slow feeling that she is going crazy.
Her husband dead in the war, Laurel travels the country at
the war's end to deliver the final words of dying soldiers
to their families. Almost to the end of her travels, she
meets up with Creede Forester, a desperate father searching
out the nurse who cared for his son in the hopes that the
boy really hadn't died.
Creede knows he'll get bad news, but there's a part of him
that hopes that Austin survived. When he meets Laurel, he
feels the true devastation of knowing his child is dead,
and even worse, that he had no last words to comfort him.
Despite his grief, Creede joins Laurel on her travels
because she certainly isn't safe alone.
These two lonely, heartbroken souls have a long way to go
to find each other. Laurel must find some kind of peace
with all the death she saw (much of which she's convinced
she could have affected if she'd made decisions
differently). Creede must accept his son's death and that
his own life is still worth living.
What a sad book. No matter how much joy these two
eventually were able to find in each other, no matter how
much we're reminded that there is always something to live
through -- the emotional depths these two characters must
plow are overwhelming. Laurel, in particular, leaves you
feeling as if her torment is somehow a little your own
burden now. Which means, of course, that this was very well
written. An excellent read and a new perspective on the
Civil War.
May 30, 1865: During the War, I watched over too many
young boys in the hospital, comforting them as they cried
out for those they loved, as they whispered their final
thoughts to me. Keeping a record of their names, families,
and last words seemed a small tribute to their sacrifice—
until the war ended, and I found a new mission in life.
I would visit the loved ones of those poor soldiers and
deliver their messages so that some comfort could be found
even in grief…
But Laurel Covey never expected to find a man like Creede
Forrester—an ex-gunslinger who rode all the way from Texas
to Virginia in the hope of finding his son and ended up
saving her from a band of ruffians. It pains her deeply to
tell him of his boy’s death, and she believes that in his
heart, Creede blames himself for driving his son away. But
there is something more to this rugged, weary man.
Something that draws Laurel closer to him…something she
cannot resist…
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