This book is a total departure for James Lee Burke. He normally writes crime novels set in New Iberia, Louisiana. This book, however, is a fictionalized account of his ancestors who served in the Civil War.
The two main characters, Robert Perry, a slave owner of wealth and privilege, and Willie Burke, a descendent of Irish immigrants who grows up in poverty, join the war as friends despite the difference in their classes.
The book paints a vivid picture of the Civil War with all its sorrows, tragedies, abuses and injustices. The characters seem so real they could walk off the pages. The villains are evil through and through, and true to life, don’t always get what they deserve.
The story deals with the abuse, not only of the slaves, but also of the underclass of whites in that time. This gripping novel is not always pretty, but its more savage scenes are all too real and dealt with in a sensitive manner.
I feel the book is very readable, and is especially intriguing for readers living in an area where so many people are still interested in the war that ended so many decades ago.

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