A Blue and Gray Christmas
By: Joan Medlicott
Published: November 2009
Format: Hardcover, 336 pages
ISBN-10: 1416597352
ISBN-13: 9781416597353
Publisher: Pocket Books
When the women of Covington Homestead come into possession of a recently unearthed metal box, containing a batch of letters written during the American Civil War, their enthusiasm has very wide reaching effects. The letters were composed by two gravely wounded Civil War soldiers with a fascinating and compelling story to tell. One soldier was from the Union Army, and the other fought for the Confederacy. Discovered by a lonely widow on the battlefield, where they were left for dead, the two men saw their lives change forever. Their unforgettable stories are woven into the present in the heartwarming novel A Blue and Gray Christmas by Joan Medlicott.
Joan Medlicott creates a story that transcends time, as the experiences of the Civil War soldiers is echoed in the lives of veterans of modern wars in Vietnam and Iraq. The horrors of war, and the lasting after effects of post traumatic stress syndrome, haunt veterans from every time and place. The letters as written by the two men from the nineteenth century share an immediacy that brings that long past time to life. Their search for redemption, and a chance to start a new life after the war, leads them to make the fateful decision to abandon their past lives, and become reborn as the family of the woman who saved their lives. The two men form a separate peace, and their choice would resonate well over a century later, and other lives would be changed forever.
Joan Medlicott (photo left) blends themes of redemption, forgiveness, acceptance, and the power of family and friendship into her memorable characters and events. The letters tell a fascinating story of hope and joy, and of the lingering pain and horror of war long after the guns fall silent. The author makes clear that people are much the same in every time period, and they share the same dreams, sorrow, and emotions as today. At the same time, Joan Medlicott entwines modern issues of social and political tensions with those of the past, and her characters must rise above the petty feelings that scar both our world and that of the nineteenth century letter writers.
The most engaging and lasting part of the book are the deeply touching letters written by the soldiers. The power and depth of emotion etched into those writings moves beyond time and place, and becomes part of the overall human experience. The great themes of love and war, and friendship and family, are timeless as the women of Covington, along with the other characters in the book, discover. The two friends were seeking to change their own lives, and find redemption and a rebirth as human beings with a purpose for living. Their letters would form the foundation of other friendships and life changing events beyond those of their own lives. Joan Medlicott's novel shows how our actions in this life can have far reaching effects, both today and into the future, that we may never know or realize.
I highly recommend the page turning and touching novel A Blue and Gray Christmas by Joan Medlicott, to anyone seeking a holiday themed story filled with life affirming themes. Combining laughter and tears, the novel is both a delight and profound, and an unforgettable experience.
Read the insightful and heartfelt novel A Blue and Gray Christmas by Joan Medlicott, and discover how ordinary people can make dramatic changes in their own lives, as well as in the lives of others, even across time and space.
