Splintered

The second in a trilogy, Splintered follows the interconnections among a superbly memorable cast of characters during the Civil War as they internally and externally wrestle with why they're fighting, or why they're not fighting at all. Others will grapple with mere survival when the war alarmingly shows up on their front lawn or storefront.

Asunder readers will delight in the return of abolitionists Cyntha and Joseph Favor, Confederate sympathizers Sara Reeder and Constance Carver, the continuation of opportunists known as the Spiritualist Fox Sisters, and a new storyline involving Wranglers who round up and move horses under harrowing conditions to supply the Confederacy.

From its heart-wrenching opening scene of stoic grief in a Lincoln White House on the day of his son Willie's death to the final heart-wrenching battle scene and suprising assasination plot against Lincoln, Splintered proves itself a novel of sweeping, artfully rendered proportions, and one that is at times deeply moving, while always intelligent and socially conscious.