What was it like to fight in the swirling violence of The Wheatfield at Gettysburg? What was it like to be wounded and treated in a makeshift Civil War hospital? What was it like to suddenly become a nurse to hundreds of badly wounded boys? In this new novel a young lady and a Union soldier face challenges that confronted thousands of young people during the battle. Mark, the young soldier, ran away at the battle of Chancellorsville, just one month ago. Can he find the courage to help drive the rebels away from his home state? Annie, the young lady, has a young son whose father has been killed in this war. Can she build a new life for herself and her son? She befriends a young black woman and her son. Will she be able to keep them safe? Both Annie and Mark must face the consequences of choices they made in the past. He is helped by a poet, just gaining fame. She is comforted by a famous man as he tours the battlefield. See if they can find love as they confront the random violence of war. Much of the action takes place in or near a field where thousands of men fought and suffered and died. Today that field is a famous landmark at Gettysburg, known to millions as "The Wheatfield."
About the Author: David M. Rieker has been fascinated by and studied the Battle of Gettysburg for more than fifty years. He knows the history and the tactics and the ground like a licensed guide. A graduate of Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA, he earned an Masters degree in English from Penn State. After college, he enlisted in the Army, was commissioned as a Lieutenant in Military Intelligence, after attending Officers Candidate School at Ft. Benning, Georgia, and served in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive. Now enjoying retirement, he had worked as a copywriter, advertising manager, and English instructor. A lifelong student of war, he is fascinated by: "The way the violence of war strips you down to your bare essence. The world sees you as you truly are." He has been writing this novel about Gettysburg for over twenty years. In it he tries to create what the fighting and the carnage must have been like for a young soldier and a young lady. They serve as Everyman and woman representing all the thousands of men and woman who were swept up in the violence of the battle. This is his first novel.