The Rebel Wife

From the title and the cover art of Taylor M. Polites' The Rebel Wife (#317) you'd expect to be reading Civil War historical fiction, probably a romance, wouldn't you?  Well, in this case, you'd be mistaken.  What you'll find instead is a very dark tale set in the fictional town of Albion, Alabama approximately ten years after the end of the Civil War.

Things haven't gone well for anybody in Albion in the intervening years, except for Eli Branson who apparently has the Midas touch, and has played his political cards well.  He also happens to be the much older husband of the story's narrator, Augusta.  She makes it clear she is not happy in the marriage, but even Gus wouldn't wish the mysterious sweating sickness on Eli that takes him in a matter of hours.  That's only the first of many shocks Gus will be dealt over the course of the next few weeks as her cousin Judge Heppert steps in to take over the financial reins of the Branson household.  ( I had a mental picture of Donald Sutherland in Cold Mountain as Judge, but with the personality of the character he played in The Hunger Games - it fits Judge's physical description perfectly!)  Lies swirl around her as Gus realizes that she can trust no one to protect her or her young son Henry.

This was a very atmospheric and well-researched  novel.  It's just long enough after the end of the war (which will never be over for many inhabitants of Albion) for those with some power in town to have regained their voting rights and to try to put the Negroes in town "back in their place".  Gus has become the subject of gossip since her husband's death, but now the ladies will come right into her parlor to share their opinions. You will sweat in the extreme Alabama heat right along with Gus laced into her whalebone corsets as she watches the town around her crumble as many leave for better economic opportunities elsewhere or to flee from the spreading sickness.  She cannot comprehend that she no longer has that luxury herself.

I expected some light summer reading with The Rebel Wife, but what I got was a powerful, compulsively readable story, Southern Gothic style.  Augusta Branson is bound to make an impression on you, too.  Highly recommended.