On tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club - Read my #BookReview of The Cotillion Brigade by Glen Craney #HistoricalFiction #BlogTour @glencraney @maryanneyarde

We are heading back in time to the American Civil War today. It is with the greatest of pleasures that I introduce you to Glen Craney and his exceptionally great novel, The Cotillion Brigade (A Novel of the Civil War and the Most Famous Female Militia in American History).

The Cotillion Brigade 

(A Novel of the Civil War and the Most Famous Female Militia in American History)

By Glen Craney

Georgia burns.

Sherman’s Yankees are closing in.

Will the women of LaGrange run or fight?

Based on the true story of the celebrated Nancy Hart Rifles, The Cotillion Brigade is an epic novel of the Civil War’s ravages on family and love, the resilient bonds of sisterhood in devastation, and the miracle of reconciliation between bitter enemies.

“Gone With The Wind meets A League Of Their Own.”

-- John Jeter, The Plunder Room

1856. Sixteen-year-old Nannie Colquitt Hill makes her debut in the antebellum society of the Chattahoochee River plantations. A thousand miles north, a Wisconsin farm boy, Hugh LaGrange, joins an Abolitionist crusade to ban slavery in Bleeding Kansas.

Five years later, secession and war against the homefront hurl them toward a confrontation unrivaled in American history.

I have always been fascinated with historical fiction books that are based on the lives of real people. Yes, I am aware quite a few historical fiction books are like this, but just think of the amount of research that goes into these books! Therefore, when I realised that this book was based on the Nancy Harts, not that I had heard of them before, but they sounded interesting, I jumped to ask to read this book.

I must admit, for my History lessons at school, I am quickly learning that I did not cover many historical periods at all. Coming into this book, I did not know much about the Civil War at all, other than what I had learned when watching North and South, although I haven’t watched it for a long time and only really did so because I was in the Patrick Swayze phase of my late teens. That being said, it proves that you do not really need to know what is going on to understand this book. Everything is explained wonderfully!

I will tell you who the Nancy Harts were, considering it was their name that made me want to read this book. The Nancy Harts were a militia, consisting solely of the women left behind in the town of LaGrange when all the men went off to war. LaGrange was a railway town, which gave the Yankee’s a clear way in, practically a path to follow, and the Nancy Harts were determined to protect their town against Yankee invaders. Now, doesn’t a militia made up entirely of women sound wonderful? Imagine coming into a town, thinking you could pass right through, for all the men were away at war, and coming face to face with a bunch of angry women with guns, all trained to the same standard you are and prepared to fight and kill you to keep their town safe. If I had to face such a sight, I think I would turn around and go around the town instead. The Nancy Harts was set up by Nancy (surprise, surprise) and half of this book is focused on her, and her life as the Civil War started, and throughout the years it continued. 

The other half of this book is that of Hugh LaGrange (yes, he has the same surname as Nancy’s town is called – some might call that a bad omen.) Hugh’s life changes drastically throughout this novel. He is a farmer, then a teacher, then a Private, ending up as a General. His experiences with women was very entertaining, for he doesn’t seem to have much luck with any of them. They either break his heart or trick him, and I am not sure which of these he took worse. Something I found interesting is that he taught his Calvary unit infantry fighting styles, which I thought would have been common sense – what if they fell off their horse?! I had been blissfully unaware that the fighting styles were different. Obviously, one has a horse and one doesn’t, but even the orders are different, and infantry had different ways of moving than Calvary does. 

A lot of emphases is put on the different battles, and generals, that appear in this book. There are a lot of names that, if you know the era, would probably stick out to you, but to me, they were just characters. There was one name, James Buchanan, that popped out to me, and it wasn’t until I searched the name that I realised I wasn’t recognising the historical figure, but the character from Marvel, Bucky Barnes, The Winter Soldier. I had a bit of a giggle over that.

I absolutely loved reading about the battles, and Nancy’s formation of the Nancy Harts, and, although the chapters are very long, and it was difficult for me to sit down long enough to get through a chapter each time (children demand attention, time and someone to listen to them rabbit on about everything) this book thoroughly entranced me and I didn’t want to put it down.

  

I received my copy of this book from The Coffee Pot Book Club, but you can grab yours from Amazon Uk, Amazon US, Amazon CA, Amazon AU, Kobo, iBooks, Barnes & Noble.

 

Glen Craney

A graduate of Indiana University School of Law and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Glen Craney practiced trial law before joining the Washington, D.C. press corps to write about national politics and the Iran-contra trial for Congressional Quarterly magazine. In 1996, the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences awarded him the Nicholl Fellowship prize for best new screenwriting. His debut historical novel, The Fire and the Light, was named Best New Fiction by the National Indie Excellence Awards. He is a three-time Finalist/Honorable Mention winner of Foreword Magazine’s Book-of-the-Year and a Chaucer Award winner for Historical Fiction. His books have taken readers to Occitania during the Albigensian Crusade, the Scotland of Robert Bruce, Portugal during the Age of Discovery, the trenches of France during World War I, the battlefields of the Civil War, and the American Hoovervilles of the Great Depression. He lives in Malibu, California.

Social Media Links: Website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Goodreads, Amazon Author Page