Heather Wood’s debut novel brings to life the world of Civil War America, particularly the lives of those on the homefront and families with members on both sides of the complicated divide.
When Justin Young is reunited with his orphaned siblings during the American Civil War, he decides to bring his widowed sister and younger brothers to live with him in Chicago, with the desire to give them a home and a family. But Justin discovers that sometimes love is more painful than it is healing as the siblings struggle with facing their own inadequacies in their journey towards reconciliation with God and each other. Along the way, the siblings and their friends learn that real love often looks like the hard work of granting grace and second chances to other hurting, imperfect people with whom they have nothing in common. In the end, they each find that when they come home to God, He gives them the courage, freedom and grace to come home to the people they’ve come to love.
As Irish American orphans raised in different circumstances in Kentucky, North Carolina and Maryland, the Young siblings could not be more different from each other, but they are determined that the ties of the same blood are strong enough to bring them together despite the secrets they each carry from their past. In this emotional story filled with humor and love, Yankee siblings come head to head with Confederate ones, Christian siblings with atheists, educated siblings with those raised on the street, and extroverted siblings with introverts. Set in the backdrop of Civil War Chicago, with its labor strikes and the Union prison camp at Camp Douglas, you will find characters you’ll come to love and won’t soon forget.
I will admit the book started off slow for me, as it is very much a character driven story and the plot seemed to take a little while to get going. Plus, it is written from an omniscient point of view, which took some getting used to since it would switch from one character’s head to the other in the same scene and I got confused a couple times. However, I knew that if I kept reading, it would pay off–and I was correct!
Heather appreciates the deeper side of spiritual themes and does not shy away from them in her writing. Each of her characters, which have been thoroughly developed in their personalities, have an internal struggle that they have to work through, from feelings of inadequacy all the way to struggles with sexual immorality and alcoholism. The Young siblings are all very different from each other and have a difficult time learning to live together. Much drama ensues, which takes the story on a sad downward turn, but God’s light eventually penetrates the darkness and begins the work of healing their hearts. This redemption that comes about in their lives is touching and thought-provoking.
As I said before, this is a character-driven story, so the characters themselves are what truly shined to me. By the end of the book, I realized just how much I’d come to love and care about what happened to these fictional people. Of the Young siblings, Jed ended up becoming my favorite simply because of his complexity. For most of the book, I didn’t feel that connected to him, but at the end, I suddenly understood him and knew I liked him more than the others. I’m looking forward to seeing how his story (and hopefully his happily ever after) will unfold in the next book, Until We All Run Free, which I am currently reading!
My two other favorite characters were Pick and Elisan. When I first met Pick, like Elisan, I didn’t care for him much at all. But once I got to know him, I realized just how great he is and I fell in love. His love-hate relationship with Elisan that turns into love is delightful and had me looking forward to the scenes that would continue their story.
Speaking of love stories, one of the most impressive things about this book is how Heather managed to tell three different love stories at once. They are each completely different from the other, but each equally satisfying in how they play out–though of course, as I said, Pick and Elisan’s was my favorite!
If you enjoy books set in the Civil War era, full of historical detail, with an emotional storyline driven by complex characters, be sure to read Until We All Find Home by Heather Wood! 4/5 Stars!!
PS: the Kindle edition of this book is only $2.99 on Amazon right now! Snag this deal while you can and read it before the sequel, which releases October 27, 2020!
[…] Review: Until We All Find Home by Heather Wood October 14, 2020 […]