Member Review "A Separate Country" by Robert Hicks

[bdtex]

I bought a First Edition hardcover from the author Robert Hicks in June in Franklin,TN during our Hood's Texas Brigade Association Re-activated's battlefield tour of Spring Hill/Franklin/Nashville. Robert Hicks was our tour guide at Carnton Plantation and he was our Thursday night dinner speaker. Even though I am not a fan of fiction or novels,I bought it because it was about Gen. Hood and because I like to support author speakers whenever possible. We bought his dinner but he did not charge us a speaker fee. His compensation for the night was book sales and he had 3 different books that he sold that night.

I put it in my stack of unread books when I got home thinking I might never read it. I decided to start the new year off reading some books like that in my stack. A Separate Country was first.

Published in 2009 by Grand Central Publishing,a division of Hachette Book Group,Inc. in New York,NY. The original retail price for hardcover First Editions was $25.99. ISBN 978-0-446-58164-6. 419 pages. New softcover editions are available for $15 or less on The Battle Of Franklin Trust website and Amazon.

From the author: "This book is a work of historical fiction. In order to give a sense of the times,some names or real people or places have been included in the book..."

I'm not gonna disclose all the real names. The book is primarily a fictional story about Gen. Hood,his wife and their children in postwar Louisiana up to the death of Anna Hood,Lydia Hood and John Bell Hood in 1879. There are some references to the battles of Spring Hill,Franklin,Nashville and the retreat from Nashville and Gen. Hood's service in Texas fighting Indians added as context to the fictional story weaved by the author. In the Acknowledgements,the author states that the book began with a visit to New Orleans just before Katrina and many visits after Katrina. Persons without a particular interest or knowledge of Gen. Hood,the Civil War and New Orleans would probably find this book a bit difficult to read. At times it gets as drippy as a supermarket romance novel but that is intertwined with excellent,contextual historical fiction about how difficult postwar life was in New Orleans and surrounding parishes. The yellow fever epidemics during that time period and their effects on families,economics,politics and the societal classes in New Orleans is one of the recurring themes in the book. The fictional story told closely tracks the real tragedy of the Hood family in the middle to late 1870s. Were I reviewing this on Amazon,I would probably rate it at 3-4 stars but it has been about 20 years or more since I read a historical novel so I might not be the best judge.

This book is the follow-up to Robert Hicks' acclaimed historical novel Widow Of The South.

 

[bdtex]

As a follow-up,I finished the book on Wednesday night and it made me want to reread the last chapter of Stephen M. Hood's The Lost Papers book. It is entitled "The Hood Orphans" and is about what happened to them after their parents' death. Did that last night.

 

[jgoodguy]

I bought a First Edition hardcover from the author Robert Hicks in June in Franklin,TN during our Hood's Texas Brigade Association Re-activated's battlefield tour of Spring Hill/Franklin/Nashville. Robert Hicks was our tour guide at Carnton Plantation and he was our Thursday night dinner speaker. Even though I am not a fan of fiction or novels,I bought it because it was about Gen. Hood and because I like to support author speakers whenever possible. We bought his dinner but he did not charge us a speaker fee. His compensation for the night was book sales and he had 3 different books that he sold that night.

I put it in my stack of unread books when I got home thinking I might never read it. I decided to start the new year off reading some books like that in my stack. A Separate Country was first.

Published in 2009 by Grand Central Publishing,a division of Hachette Book Group,Inc. in New York,NY. The original retail price for hardcover First Editions was $25.99. ISBN 978-0-446-58164-6. 419 pages. New softcover additions are available for $15 or less on The Battle Of Franklin Trust website and Amazon.

From the author: "This book is a work of historical fiction. In order to give a sense of the times,some names or real people or places have been included in the book..."

I'm not gonna disclose all the real names. The book is primarily a fictional story about Gen. Hood,his wife and their children in postwar Louisiana up to the death of Anna Hood,Lydia Hood and John Bell Hood in 1879. There are some references to the battles of Spring Hill,Franklin,Nashville and the retreat from Nashville and Gen. Hood's service in Texas fighting Indians added as context to the fictional story weaved by the author. In the Acknowledgements,the author states that the book began with a visit to New Orleans just before Katrina and many visits after Katrina. Persons without a particular interest or knowledge of Gen. Hood,the Civil War and New Orleans would probably find this book a bit difficult to read. At times it gets as drippy as a supermarket romance novel but that is intertwined with excellent,contextual historical fiction about how difficult postwar life was in New Orleans and surrounding parishes. The yellow fever epidemics during that time period and their effects on families,economics,politics and the societal classes in New Orleans is one of the recurring themes in the book. The fictional story told closely tracks the real tragedy of the Hood family in the middle to late 1870s. Were I reviewing this on Amazon,I would probably rate it at 3-4 stars but it has been about 20 years or more since I read a historical novel so I might not be the best judge.

This book is the follow-up to Robert Hicks' acclaimed historical novel Widow Of The South.

Thanks for the review

 

[mofederal]

I read this book last year. I enjoyed it, but it was just average. The Widow Of The South was a much better book. I met Hicks when he gave a talk concerning the book in town. The talk was interesting and I enjoyed it, and liked talking to him. I would say the review was fair and honest. A Separate Country was a good read, but it was a pretty much a romance novel in at least part. Still good though. Thanks @bdtex for a pretty spot on review.

 

[Pat Young]

I bought a First Edition hardcover from the author Robert Hicks in June in Franklin,TN during our Hood's Texas Brigade Association Re-activated's battlefield tour of Spring Hill/Franklin/Nashville. Robert Hicks was our tour guide at Carnton Plantation and he was our Thursday night dinner speaker. Even though I am not a fan of fiction or novels,I bought it because it was about Gen. Hood and because I like to support author speakers whenever possible. We bought his dinner but he did not charge us a speaker fee. His compensation for the night was book sales and he had 3 different books that he sold that night.

I put it in my stack of unread books when I got home thinking I might never read it. I decided to start the new year off reading some books like that in my stack. A Separate Country was first.

Published in 2009 by Grand Central Publishing,a division of Hachette Book Group,Inc. in New York,NY. The original retail price for hardcover First Editions was $25.99. ISBN 978-0-446-58164-6. 419 pages. New softcover editions are available for $15 or less on The Battle Of Franklin Trust website and Amazon.

From the author: "This book is a work of historical fiction. In order to give a sense of the times,some names or real people or places have been included in the book..."

I'm not gonna disclose all the real names. The book is primarily a fictional story about Gen. Hood,his wife and their children in postwar Louisiana up to the death of Anna Hood,Lydia Hood and John Bell Hood in 1879. There are some references to the battles of Spring Hill,Franklin,Nashville and the retreat from Nashville and Gen. Hood's service in Texas fighting Indians added as context to the fictional story weaved by the author. In the Acknowledgements,the author states that the book began with a visit to New Orleans just before Katrina and many visits after Katrina. Persons without a particular interest or knowledge of Gen. Hood,the Civil War and New Orleans would probably find this book a bit difficult to read. At times it gets as drippy as a supermarket romance novel but that is intertwined with excellent,contextual historical fiction about how difficult postwar life was in New Orleans and surrounding parishes. The yellow fever epidemics during that time period and their effects on families,economics,politics and the societal classes in New Orleans is one of the recurring themes in the book. The fictional story told closely tracks the real tragedy of the Hood family in the middle to late 1870s. Were I reviewing this on Amazon,I would probably rate it at 3-4 stars but it has been about 20 years or more since I read a historical novel so I might not be the best judge.

This book is the follow-up to Robert Hicks' acclaimed historical novel Widow Of The South.

Be careful with those Amazon stars.

 

[bdtex]

Be careful with those Amazon stars.

In this forum or in general? It is rather subjective. Perhaps that is what you are talking about?

 

[Pat Young]

In this forum or in general? It is rather subjective. Perhaps that is what you are talking about?

Ha ha.

To post a review on amazon you have to give a book "stars." There are five possible stars. I used to give books three stars if they were average. Three is right in the middle of five. Authors wrote to me very angry that while my review was moderately favorable I had condemned them by giving them only three stars.

 

[bdtex]

Ha ha.

They were serious questions.

To post a review on amazon you have to give a book "stars." There are five possible stars. I used to give books three stars if they were average. Three is right in the middle of five. Authors wrote to me very angry that while my review was moderately favorable I had condemned them by giving them only three stars.

I've seen that happen. I don't review books on Amazon often and only if I bought it on Amazon. I don't consider reviews on Amazon either unless it is by a "Verified Purchaser".

 

[Pat Young]

They were serious questions.



I've seen that happen. I don't review books on Amazon often and only if I bought it on Amazon. I don't consider reviews on Amazon either unless it is by a "Verified Purchaser".

In my opinion, a five star book is something like War and Peace or One Hundred Years of Solitude. Even a really good book deserves four stars unless it is life changing, or a work of amazing artistry or scholarship. Most studies of a Civil War battle or the standard biographies of minor Civil War figures just shouldn't even hope to be put in the same category as enduring classics of historical scholarship. Yet, go to amazon and see how many stars competent but non-spectacular books get.

For example, James McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom gets nearly 5 stars:

But so does Brian Kilmeade's Andrew Jackson and the Miracle of New Orleans:

 

[Pat Young]

@bdtex just letting you know that your review was selected as Feature Book review this week.

 

[Northern Light]

I enjoyed this book, but as "Tex" says, it isn' as good as "Widow of the South". both are worth reading, if only because they fill you in on some background history of the places and people in them. Carrie McGavock is also a much more appealing character then JBH.

 

[Pat Young]

Thanks to @ami for featuring this book review.

 

[Eleanor Rose]

Another book for my list! Thanks @bdtex!

 

[bdtex]

Another book for my list! Thanks @bdtex!

You're most welcome. I was surprised that I liked it as much as I did.