Trotter concludes his epic tale of Civil War North Carolina with a sequel as splendid as its predecessor, The Sands of Pride
(2002). The large cast of characters ranges from fearless Union naval officer William Cushing, who brings home the body of his brother killed at Gettysburg at the book's start, to the inept Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg, for whose fumbling defense of Wilmington, N.C., at war's end Trotter provides a plausible explanation. The author does an excellent job of keeping up interest between battles: sexually liberated Largo Landau, the daughter of a prominent Wilmington merchant, prepares Mary Harper Sloane, the daughter of a rich South Carolina rice planter, for the homecoming of her erring privateer husband by arranging erotic lessons, while Col. William Lamb's Fort Fisher garrison and William Cushing's seaborne gunners join forces to protect sea-turtle hatchlings. The tone darkens rapidly with the racial massacre at Faison's Grove and the murder of Mary's father by bushwhackers. After the Confederate ironclad Hatteras
(the historical Albemarle
renamed and somewhat enlarged) emerges from her swamp lair, the pace quickens and the novel marches to a thundering climax with the bloody and magnificently depicted fall of Fort Fisher. The same combination of superb research, compelling characters and dry wit that enthralled readers of previous installments will do so again. (Mar. 9)
Forecast:
While this Civil War epic will likely appeal primarily to Civil War buffs, booksellers might also profitably recommend it to readers of general historical fiction. Of note: Trotter's three-volume history of the Civil War in North Carolina was a source for
Cold Mountain.
