I Shall Be Near to You: A Novel - Hardcover

McCabe, Erin Lindsay

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0804137722 ISBN 13: 9780804137720

Publisher: Crown, 2014

Synopsis

An extraordinary novel about a strong-willed woman who disguises herself as a man in order to fight beside her husband, inspired by the letters of a remarkable female soldier who fought in the Civil War.
   Rosetta doesn't want her new husband Jeremiah to enlist, but he joins up, hoping to make enough money that they'll be able to afford their own farm someday. Though she's always worked by her father’s side as the son he never had, now that Rosetta is a wife she's told her place is inside with the other women. But Rosetta decides her true place is with Jeremiah, no matter what that means, and to be with him she cuts off her hair, hems an old pair of his pants, and signs up as a Union soldier.
   With the army desperate for recruits, Rosetta has no trouble volunteering, although she faces an incredulous husband. She drills with the men, proves she can be as good a soldier as anyone, and deals with the tension as her husband comes to grips with having a fighting wife. Rosetta's strong will clashes with Jeremiah's while their marriage is tested by broken conventions, constant danger, and war, and she fears discovery of her secret even as they fight for their future, and for their lives. Inspired by more than 250 documented accounts of the women who fought in the Civil War while disguised as men, I Shall Be Near To You is the intimate story, in Rosetta’s powerful and gorgeous voice, of the drama of marriage, one woman’s amazing exploits, and the tender love story that can unfold when two partners face life’s challenges side by side.

About this title

About the Author

ERIN LINDSAY McCABE studied Literature at University of California, Santa Cruz, and taught high school English before completing her MFA at St. Mary's College of California in 2010. She has taught Composition at St. Mary's and Butte College and resides in Northern California with her husband and son and a small menagerie that includes one dog, four cats, two horses, ten chickens, and two goats.

Reviews

*Starred Review* A girl as tough as Katniss Everdeen. A romance out of Twilight. A historical backdrop as strong as Cold Mountain. These things combine in the extraordinary story of Rosetta Wakefield, a young woman from rural New York who follows her childhood sweetheart, Jeremiah, into the Civil War. Rosetta grows up preferring to haul hay with her father over mending socks with her mother and sister. Often teased for her tomboy ways, Rosetta has a constant defender in Jeremiah—and eventually a lover and husband. When he enlists in the Union army to earn money for their future, she finds she can’t sit at home, bearing the hostility of her new mother-in-law and the oppressive domesticity. Dressing in men’s clothes, she takes the name of Ross Stone and enlists. Together the two young people face the everyday challenges of army life—cold nights, drunk tent mates, uncertainty—and the horrors of war, culminating in the terrible battle of Antietam. Author McCabe makes every sentence count, with a narrative full of authentic dialogue, historical realism, and great feeling. Loosely based on true events, including the letters of the more than 200 women who are known to have served as men in the Civil War. --Lynn Weber

Edition details

• Publisher: Crown
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0804137722
• ISBN 13: 9780804137720
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320