Featuring an unconventional female protagonist and set against the backdrop of the Civil War, I believe it will appeal to a wide audience, including women who aren't traditionally interested in war stories, history buffs, and young adult readers. This is the story of Georgia, a young woman living a bucolic life on her father's prosperous Virginia farm ... until the Civil War explodes all around her. In short order the slaves flee; Georgia's father commits suicide; and her dissolute brother Thaddeus runs off to join the Confederate Army. Jolted from her complaisance, Georgia quickly realizes that she is a traitor twice over: a Union sympathizer and a discontented debutante. Emboldened by tragedy, dreaming of a more meaningful life, she moves to Washington City. There desperation and determination compel her to attempt the unthinkable: reinvented as "George," she secures a position first as an apprentice telegraph operator, then as a civilian "brass pounder" in the newly formed Union Army Balloon Corps. Georgia discovers that life as a man has its own injustices when she is drummed out of the Balloon Corps, but her restless search for fulfillment compels her to accept when a general recruits her to the front lines of the Union army. The cost of her convictions is hardship, capture, and cruel confinement in notorious Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia. Her sole comfort there is her comrade in arms Archibald, who soon succumbs to death ... only after revealing that his heart saw through her deception long before. Georgia is narrowly rescued from the same fate by her Aunt Flora, a Richmond aristocrat. Weary, wiser, but undaunted, Georgia recovers and returns to Washington City, accompanied by her oldest friend and confidante, the wealthy dandy Borley. He soon secures them a place among the beau monde of Washington, but Georgia still aches for something more. When she rejects his suit, Borley settles a sizeable fortune on her and returns to Richmond, leaving Georgia with the courage of her convictions ... finally free to work, live, and love as an equal. A tale of self-discovery set during an equally transformative time in American history, A War Between the States is similar to Cold Mountain in its epic feel; like the novel In the Hope of Rising Again, however, it eschews the love story trope. It offers instead an intimate exploration of the triumphs and tragedies that compelled more than 3,000 women to fight on the battlefields of the War Between the States.
About the Author: Kellie Warriner Doyle loves to write what she loves to write. With a degree in English and an advanced degree in college administration, she has invested in writing everything from fiction to grants and has no favorite genre. While having just finished an historical novel, Kellie has several screenplays under her belt, a YA novel completed, and is currently working on a paranormal memoir. Kellie lives in lovely Culpeper, Virginia and shares her life with her husband, Jim, a hyperactive Border Collie named Cogan, and a grumpy cat names Mystic.