The Second Mrs. Hockaday
Susan Rivers
To be released Jan. 10, 2017
272 pages
Fiction
When Major Gryffth Hockaday is recalled to the front lines of the Civil War, his new bride is left to care for her husband’s farm and infant son. Placidia, a teenager now living far from her family with no experience in running a farm or raising a child, must endure the darkest days of the war on her own. By the time Major Hockaday returns two years later, Placidia is headed for jail, accused of having borne and murdered a child in his absence. What really transpired in the two years he was away?
This isn’t a murder mystery, although the death of Placidia’s child is what drives the plot. Instead, it’s the story of two people who both undergo horrific experiences, and how they forgive each other for what happened during wartime. Rivers only gradually reveals what happened using letters and diary entries, which allows the reader to jump back and forth between Placidia’s life on the farm, Major Hockaday’s experiences in a prison camp and their children’s lives post-Reconstruction. The writing is striking, and the characters will stay with you long after the last page. Highly recommended.
Nora Cascadden
Concord Public Library
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