Are you looking for your next weekend read? Do you need a book that you can get lost in? With This Pledge by Tamera Alexander is a beautiful, brand new, historical fiction novel. This is the first full length novel in her Carnton series (there is a novella, Christmas at Carnton), set during the civil war, in Franklin, Tennessee.
About With This Pledge:
What can a woman—a mere governess—do against the scourge of slavery?
Elizabeth “Lizzie” Clouston’s quietly held principles oppose those of the Southern Cause—but when forty thousand soldiers converge on the fields of Franklin, Tennessee, the war demands an answer. The Carnton home where she is governess is converted into a Confederate field hospital, and Lizzie is called upon to assist the military doctor with surgeries that determine life or death. Faced with the unimaginable, she must summon fortitude, even as she fears for the life of Towny, her fiancé and lifelong friend.
As a young soldier lies dying in Lizzie’s arms, she vows to relay his final words to his mother, but knows little more than the boy’s first name. That same night, decorated Mississippi sharpshooter Captain Roland Ward Jones extracts a different promise from Lizzie: that she intervene should the surgeon decide to amputate his leg.
Lizzie is nothing if not a woman of her word, earning the soldiers’ respect as she tends to the wounded within Carnton’s walls. None is more admiring than Captain Jones, who doesn’t realize she is pledged to another. But as Lizzie’s heart softens toward the Confederate captain, she discovers that his moral ground is at odds with her own. Now torn between love, principles, and promises made, she struggles to be true to her heart while standing for what she knows is right—no matter the cost.
From the pages of history and the personal accounts of those who endured the Battle of Franklin, Tamera Alexander weaves the real-life love letters between Captain Roland Ward Jones and Miss Elizabeth Clouston into a story of unlikely romance first kindled amid the shadows of war.
My Own Thoughts on With This Pledge:
I’m a Tamera Alexander super fan. I’m serious, I’ve read every one of her books, and have loved them all equally well. I’ve shared several reviews and recommendations of several of her other novels HERE.
This book is written with her signature style of grace at approaching very difficult subjects. She tackles the issues of slavery head on, as well as the treatment of soldiers on both sides of the war.
I really enjoyed With this Pledge. I’d already read the Christmas at Carnton novella, and couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book.
Tamera Alexander has never disappointed me as an author, and this book was no exception. With this Pledge was, as usual, beautifully written, and able to transport the reader to the exact place and time the novel is set.
I live in Franklin and for my birthday last year, my family and I toured the Carnton Plantation home and grounds. They have been beautifully restored. However, had I never stepped foot into the home, I have to say Tamera Alexander captured the descriptions with excellence and accuracy. And had I not seen the place in real life, I would still have been able to clearly see all of the characters in my mind moving about the home.
What I found interesting about With the Pledge are the different perspectives pertaining to the Civil War that are shown. The book does not show the Confederacy completely as villains, nor the Union completely as heroes. She gets into the heads of the characters and gives us a glimpse of why they may have been thinking what they were. That there was, perhaps, a great amount of tragically misguided loyalty that lead the soldiers on each side. And because of that, it challenges the reader think and dig deep internally to consider why we believe the things we do as well.
And of course there’s the love story. The fact is evident that the author has done her historical homework. She’s found inspiration from actual handwritten letters from real characters in the novel that have been preserved by the family. I believe she’s done a great job honoring them, while taking what creative license she needed to. The characters are fleshed out in strengths and flaws, and are a wonderful reminder that we are in constant need of guidance and direction from the Lord.
I especially liked the nuns. They were funny, actually made me laugh out loud a few times, and brought a lot of levity to the story.
Overall, With the Pledge has everything you’d expect and want from both Christian and Historical fiction.
My Visit to the Carnton Plantation in Franklin, TN
