This is book #2 in this series; although you 'can' read it independently I wouldn't recommend it as it starts right where book #1 left off at. And although Ms Snelling does fill the reader in somewhat you still wouldn't get the full effect of the story without book 1.This story gives the reader a different outlook on the Civil War; one I never thought about. A family torn apart due to having to be sent away to fight some members killed, some missing and the women all wondering about them. All the while the oldest daughter has to do what she has promised her dieing father she'd save the Thoroughbred horses that has made their ranch. So after the war they can start over. She has sent her two younger sisters to live in a different town to be protected from the war again dividing what family is left. She goes against all her mother taught her to be and dressed in britches and cut her hair to live life as a man. She frees her slaves and a handful of them go with her as she crosses over in to the mist of the war with what few horses she has left to rescue them from the war; and her now freed slaves that are more family to her than her 'old slaves' trying to keep them alive from being hanged or beaten up if found. All the while finding people in need in the mist of her own worries of survival. She begins to loose Faith and starts to believe that God doesn't exists anymore. But the main gentleman she took with her his Faith is strong and that is how he survives with daily prayers and thanksgiving among all the strife they have to deal with. She turns to him on many occasions; when she feels she can no longer manage on her own. And when the group band together they do survive through...to do what they need to do next... Book 2 includes history on the Oregon Trail, as Jesse and her family have to join. Also in the book (about a quarter of the way in the book every other chapter talks about Jesse and their travels and ever other takes you back to the town of her younger sisters and their survival with their aunt.) Again because of the war Louisa has to say a few lies to be able to go and volunteer at the hospital where "ladies" aren't allowed. Seeing things they shouldn't see of the men coming in and needing treatment. But widowed ladies are allowed. So she lives a lie to be able to do what she feels her heart is telling her to do and making a difference in many of the men's lives and helping the doctors all she can. In the meantime happiness does come to her in forms she never would imagine. At the end of this book you WILL want to have book #3 on hand; as when it ends you want to read on to see about the various lives within this book. Will all the families get reunited? Or will the war continue beyond Spring when everyone is hoping it will end? This book for me started out slow and I wasn't real sure I liked it at first but by a quarter of the way in I was rating it 3 stars but about half way in I couldn't hardly put the story down and looked forward to having time to be able to read more about what was happening. Thus the four star rating. If you would like something 'different' and something to remind you that people do have to endure trials and it's okay to doubt your Faith as that is when God is carrying and protecting you. And He will bring the people in your life that you need at the time
This is the second in this series by Lauraine Snelling. I liked it just as much as I liked the first one. The book is about Jesselynne Highwood who leaves her ranch in Kentucky with some of her freed slaves and her little brother along with their Thoroughbred horses to travel across the country to Oregon to keep them safe from the ravages of the Civil War. She pretends to be a boy since she got more respect that way and people would deal with her when she wanted to buy supplies and such when they wouldn't have if she was female. As it starts out, the troup is halfway across the States living in a cave (a big cave) outside of Springfield. When the war cstches up with them, they move on to join a wagon train going to Oregon. Jesse's doubts about God and her faith add to the story. Meanwhile, her sisters are living in Richmond, VA, helping out with the wounded men. They discover that one of the wounded men is their brother, Zackary, and that part of their family is reunited. Their home, Twin Oaks, was burnt out by raiders, but their freed slaves hid and came back to try to keep things going -- the tobacco crop, the garden, etc. I really liked the pace of this book. It didn't drag at all. The story kept going from the sisters in Richmond to Jesse in the west and back again. There is a very Christian theme running through it as well, but it isn't overwhelming. It seems as if it should be there. I'm sure there is another volume in the series because they haven't made it to Oregon yet. I'll have to look for it.
Do You like book Sisters Of The Confederacy (2000)?
Secrets continue in the second volume of the series. The Highwood siblings are scattered due to the war. While Louisa tends the injured at her aunt's home in Richmond, Jesselynn's responsibilities grow as the group of people and animals she is in charge of has increased. Ever wary of thieves or soldiers that might confiscate the Thoroughbreds that will be the lifeblood of new beginnings at Twin Oaks, it is becoming more and more difficult to hide who she really is. Though their brother, Zachary, has returned from the war with permanent injuries, he has secrets of his own. Can hardly wait to get my hands on the next volume!
—Trudy E
Sisters of the Confederacy is the second book in the Secret Refuge series by Lauraine Snelling. It is about God's protection of three sisters during the Civil War who each have different lives--one married and well off, Louisa living with her aunt in Virginia while ministering to wounded soldiers, including her brother, and Jesselynn on her way to Oregon with her horses, her little brother, and her freed slaves to start over. Jesse and her troop join up with a wagon train and her secret is discovered when she is thrown from her horse into a creek and getting all wet. Jesse questions God about the war and why little children die but mean men get to live. Both sisters are brave and feisty. I enjoyed this book because Jesselynn is such a strong woman and feels responsible for those traveling with her. Sometimes she feels overwhelmed, especially when Daniel finds himself in jail and is about to be hanged for something he didn't do. The horse race was exciting too and loved how she handled it. I really liked the story line about Jesselynn, but the one about Louisa, not so much. I look forward to reading the last one in this series. (Karen's review)
—Karen
This book was really awesome! I had a hard time putting it down. I read it only when I walked on the treadmill for an hour every day. It made the time go by very fast! So far every book in the series has been excellent. It follows two sisters during the War. One of them goes on trips with her brother trying to get some morphine to help the soldiers that are recuperating from their war wounds. The other sister has brought what is left of their thoroughbred horses on a trip to save them from the soldiers during the war. This sister also has her youngest brother and a handful of slaves along for the trip. What they both go thru is beyond my imagination. So far each book has been extremely well written, as are all of Lauraine Snelling's books that I have read.
—Joanne
