Sunflower Sisters by Martha Hall Kelly – Audio
Book Blurb:
Lilac Girls introduced readers to Caroline Ferriday, an American philanthropist who helped young girls released from Ravensbruck concentration camp. Now, in Sunflower Sisters, Kelly tells the story of her ancestor Georgeanna Woolsey, a Union nurse who joins the war effort during the Civil War, and how her calling leads her to cross paths with Jemma, a young enslaved girl who is sold off and conscripted into the army, and Ann-May Wilson, a southern plantation mistress whose husband enlists.
Georgeanne “Georgey” Woolsey isn’t meant for the world of lavish parties and demure attitudes of women of her stature. So when the war ignites the nation, Georgey follows her passion for nursing during a time when doctors considered women a bother on the battlefront. In proving them wrong, she and her sister Eliza venture from New York to Washington, D.C., to Gettysburg and witness the unparalleled horrors of slavery as they become involved in the war effort.
In the South, Jemma is enslaved on the Peeler Plantation in Maryland, where she lives with her mother and father. Her sister, Patience, is enslaved on the plantation next door and both live in fear of LeBaron, an abusive overseer who tracks their every move. When Jemma is sold by the cruel plantation mistress Anne-May at the same time the Union army comes through, she sees a chance to finally escape–but only by abandoning the family she loves.
Anne-May is left behind to run Peeler Planation when her husband joins the Union Army and her cherished brother enlists with the Confederates. In charge of the household, she uses the opportunity to follow her own ambitions and is drawn into a secret Southern network of spies, finally exposing herself to the fate she deserves.
My Review: 4 stars
Reading Sunflower Sisters by Martha Hall Kelly is like visiting an old friend. After reading and enjoying both of Kelly’s previous books, Lilac Girls and Lost Roses, I knew I’d be welcomed into the arms of these new characters during the Civil War.
In this book we follow three women, all during the same time period; Georgy Woolsey – a Union Army nurse, Anne-May – an awful and spiteful slave owner at the Peeler Plantation and Jemma – a slave at the Peller Plantation. All of their stories were interesting and kept me engaged, although my dislike of Anne-May made her chapters harder to read.
As a huge fan of historical novels, one of the bonuses is that I’m always learning as I live inside the pages of historical times. I suppose, because I’ve read so much, there is a lot that becomes repetitive. Some of that happened in this book, but I just adored learning more about the Woolsey sisters. Thank you for bringing more of their kindness and altruism to light.
I listened to the audio version of this book and enjoyed the presentation very much. Fans of historical fiction will be happy with the third book about ancestors of the same family.
Quotes I liked:
Remember, you may not be of my body, but you are of my heart.
“Do that which you fear to do and the fear will die.”
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