Good Reads / Community Library Notes
A Shout in the Ruins
Kevin Powers
Review by Priscilla Comen
A Shout in the Ruins
Kevin Powers
Review by Priscilla Comen
A Shout in the Ruins, by Kevin Powers, is the story of several characters, some of whom survived the Civil War, some who did not. Rawls is the free black man who works for Bob Reid. He falls for Nurse and searches everywhere for her after she disappears. The Seldom brothers are wanted by the law for many murders and misdeeds, but their one good deed was to rescue the orphaned baby boy named George.
George narrates the story of his ninety years after he is rescued on the battlefield at Mechanicsville in June of 1862. Author Powers paints a keen picture of the aftermath of war in the South. Women riot for bread, and free negroes tell slaves they’ll soon be free. Nurse appears at the military hospital where limbs are amputated hourly. She had been bought by Lavallois, and raped by him at Devil’s Half Acre. She gently cares for Bob Reid after he is wounded. She holds him up as they walk the grounds. Meanwhile, George searches for the shack he lived in as a boy, and ends up at a diner where a young waitress takes pity on him and treats him to a movie, Shane.
Nurse and Rawls discover each other at the hospital. Lavallois comes to take Bob Reid back with him to his ranch. Reid’s empty sleeve and leg brace annoy Lavallois, but he wants Reid to see the home that has been destroyed, and his daughter who is now promised to Lavallois. He is a mean man. The author describes him without a nice side to his character. Reid’s daughter, Emily, shows him where their home had been. It will soon be a railroad station owned by Lavallois.
After the war ends, Colonel Tom Fitzgerald takes charge of Richmond, Virginia, and tells sheriff Rivers to leave town. The Colonel rides to Beauvais to find Levallois. The Colonel wants justice, Levallois wants to remain ruler of his properties, including his people. What will happen to Rawls and Nurse? Will they get away from Beauvais? Will Emily stay with Lavallois, whom she hates? Author Powers has crafted a powerful novel about the aftermath of the Civil War, its effects on the South and the people there.
Can love and decency and respect exist in a world where violence and hatred have been for many years? Find this excellent novel on the new fiction shelf of your Mendocino Community Library.
George narrates the story of his ninety years after he is rescued on the battlefield at Mechanicsville in June of 1862. Author Powers paints a keen picture of the aftermath of war in the South. Women riot for bread, and free negroes tell slaves they’ll soon be free. Nurse appears at the military hospital where limbs are amputated hourly. She had been bought by Lavallois, and raped by him at Devil’s Half Acre. She gently cares for Bob Reid after he is wounded. She holds him up as they walk the grounds. Meanwhile, George searches for the shack he lived in as a boy, and ends up at a diner where a young waitress takes pity on him and treats him to a movie, Shane.
Nurse and Rawls discover each other at the hospital. Lavallois comes to take Bob Reid back with him to his ranch. Reid’s empty sleeve and leg brace annoy Lavallois, but he wants Reid to see the home that has been destroyed, and his daughter who is now promised to Lavallois. He is a mean man. The author describes him without a nice side to his character. Reid’s daughter, Emily, shows him where their home had been. It will soon be a railroad station owned by Lavallois.
After the war ends, Colonel Tom Fitzgerald takes charge of Richmond, Virginia, and tells sheriff Rivers to leave town. The Colonel rides to Beauvais to find Levallois. The Colonel wants justice, Levallois wants to remain ruler of his properties, including his people. What will happen to Rawls and Nurse? Will they get away from Beauvais? Will Emily stay with Lavallois, whom she hates? Author Powers has crafted a powerful novel about the aftermath of the Civil War, its effects on the South and the people there.
Can love and decency and respect exist in a world where violence and hatred have been for many years? Find this excellent novel on the new fiction shelf of your Mendocino Community Library.