Sisters of Shiloh is a powerful story of love, loss, and family. Sister authors Kathy and Becky Hepinstall use their creative talents and historical expertise to juxtapose the darkness of the American Civil War with the light, hopeful exuberance of young love. Set in a war-ravaged South, sisters Josephine and Libby make authentic and deeply compelling characters. Both have distinct voices, but Josephine truly shines in her evolution as she attempts to keep her sister sane and safe in truly chaotic circumstances. The secondary players, mostly soldiers, round out the book’s solid and interesting characters. The novel has beautiful prose and offers fascinating detail into the war effort and how the sisters manage to enlist and survive in the Confederate Army. With dangers all around them, plus the mysterious death of Libby’s husband, Sisters of Shiloh is a well-written page-turner.
Review of Advance Review Copy
This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Houghton Mifflin Company
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: 8 religious exclamations; 30 mild obscenities; 1 religious profanity; 10 derogatory names; 2 scatological words; 6 anatomical terms.
Violence/Gore: Multiple rumors and reports of violence from the battlefield; a few brief scenes of violence involving battle and firing at the enemy; a few non-detailed scenes of violent death in battle, by firing squad and by suicide; a few brief and one extended scene of battle with intense violence and blood and gore.
Sex/Nudity: Several incidents of kissing; a non-sexual depiction of nudity while a girl bathes in a river; a few sexual references involving characters binding their breasts; a few implied incidents of sexual activity; a brief scene of sexual activity without explicit detail between adults; a character wonders to himself if another character might be gay.
Mature Subject Matter:
Racism, war, suicide, homosexuality, death of family members.
Alcohol / Drug Use:
Characters frequently drink and smoke; in one scene, characters are drunk.
