Dreams of Savannah

Cordelia Owens is beautiful inside and out. She has a unique way of telling stories. When her love, Phiness Dunn goes of to war, she wonders if anything will ever be the same again. This book is full of many different stories. It is well written and well put together. I enjoyed many of the friendships and relationships woven throughout this book. Some characters I loved and some not so much, but together they make a great story. I look forward to reading more from this author. I was given a copy of this book for my honest opinion.

Dreams of Savannah by Roseanna M White is a wonderful inspirational historical fiction romance set during America's Civil War period and is perfect for all of those who love that period of history. The war changed so many things in the states. It divided a country, families and friends. It changed peoples' values, economies, way of life, morality and fundamental beliefs. Cordelia and Phineas are not the same two people they were when it all began and aren't sure when Phineas returns a very different and wounded man if they are meant to be together in this new America. I really enjoyed this story and look forward to reading more by this author in the future. I was given an ARC from the author/publisher All conclusions are mine and mine alone.

Cordelia was a fun character. She was kind, compassionate, and imaginative. I loved how she turned everything into a story, and I loved the fact that she examined her biases and took the time to educate herself once she was made aware of them, and the moments when she took a stand. She and Phin had good chemistry and completed each other well, though I feel their relationship could have used more development (more on that in a minute). Luther was a fabulous character! LOVED him! He was strong, he battled his feelings, he showed grace but did not hold back or glaze over the truth for the purpose of making Phin feel comfortable. I really appreciated that. Salina was also a wonderful, strong character. She had every right to feel resentful of Delia but chose love instead. I wish we could have heard even more of her voice. While we got to know both Phin and Delia very well, their individual development was great, and they had really good chemistry when they were together…much of their relationship takes place off-page. They don’t go through any of these changes together, and it’s near the end of the book before they both know they’re on the same page over the issue of slavery. When they were together they didn’t talk about what was happening in their lives that was changing their outlook on life. I wish we had been able to see more of their relationship at the beginning of the book, and maybe some of their letters. I think it would have also been helpful to see Phin’s character and interaction with his slaves at the beginning of the book before he met Luther so we could appreciate his change a bit more. The Civil War books I have read in the past fall into two camps: 1. The South is a villain camp 2. Humanizing the south while glossing over the issue of slavery (yeah, slavery was bad, but…*cue defense of slavery or slave owners*) camp. As the spectrum goes, this book would fall more towards the middle. It does humanize the people of the South, but it ALSO deals with the issue of slavery. It is probably the first book I’ve read that includes an awakening of the slave owners to the evil of slavery. It has a clear anti-racism/anti-slavery message while acknowledging the complexities of the day. There is a challenge to the reader to examine our own biases. Overall, it was a very good read. This is a difficult topic to navigate, especially when writing fiction. What I think this book does well is that it does not dwell overly much on defending or villainizing the South. Instead, it addresses people living in a broken system and asks them to do their part in bringing about justice. I received an advanced copy for the purpose of reviewing. All opinions are my own.