Shadows of Glory

I'm a sucker for novels about the Civil War. Generally buy them and read them however bad they might be. Then I bought Owen Parry's FADED COAT OF BLUE. Fantastic. Found out that SHADOWS OF GLORY was just out and had to have it. Got it. Even better. You see this is not just interesting historical genre fiction. This is good literature. Mr. Parry (which I believe is a pseudonym and I wish I knew who the writer really was) places sentences with really incredibly-crafted imagery into every page. With most books we're lucky to get a good line per chapter. With this book there are several per page. Paraphrasing one I can remember when protagonist Major Abel Jones enters the house of a minister in Pen Yan, NY in the dead of winter. He describes it as "... a lean shiver of a house." Brrr. You can feel the chill to your bones. So buy this book if you like good historical fiction, but savor all the tasty, well-baked phrases. Read slowly because you'll be sorry when it's over.

Shadows of Glory delights the reader in so many areas: plot, characterization, sensory exposition. The story continues the sleuthing adventures of Abel Jones, an idiosyncratic Welshman, newly-made American, and reluctant recruit into the cloak and dagger world of Civil War spies, intrigue and murder. Brutal, senseless murders have occurred in upstate New York and rumors of Irish insurrection abound, and President Lincoln and Secretary of State, William Seward, have ordered Abel to get to the bottom of the mess.In the course of his detective work, Abel encounters remarkable and unforgettable characters, some historical and some fictional, that both help and hinder the progress of his investigations. Frederick Douglass and Susan Anthony assist Abel in his delving and Owen Parry's characterizations provide intriguing insight into these complex, yet intensely human, historical figures.A pivotal role, played by the consumption-ridden, seance-seducing, psychic, Nellie Kildare, is riveting and captures the 19th century fascination with seances and psychic phenomena. Abel is also aided by the character of John Underwood, the straight-forward, straight-shooting local New York sherriff whose desire for justice is only exceeded by his love of his town and his people.In addition, Shadows of Glory reintroduces some of my favorite characters from Faded Coat of Blue: the effervescent, incorrigible Irishman, Jimmy Molloy and the introspective and committed surgeon, Dr. Mick Tyrone.Shadows of Glory is a veritable feast of the senses and the food descriptions absolutely delight. Interspersed with the horrors of war--its brutality and greed, and mind-numbing descriptions of surgery without anaesthesia, are dining descriptions to enchant the mind and senses, descriptions of food robust enough to make you yearn for hearty, thick stews and flaky crusted, gloden, home baked pies, served hot on icy cold evenings. Shadows of Glory is a fitting and well conceived sequel to Faded Coat of Blue. The novel is a quick read; the text is wonderfully lyrical and the plot manipulations are brilliantly executed, making the reader eagerly await the arrival of the next Abel jones adventure.

Just as I was beginning to wilt in this summer's heat, along comes Owen parry with "Shadows of Glory," the second in his projected series of novels detailing the adventures of Abel Jones during the American Civil War. "Shadows" picks up where "Faded Coat of Blue," the first book in the series ends. Protagonist Abel Jones, the Welsh immigrant, is now promoted to major in the Union Army and a "confidential" agent of the U. S. government, is dispatched to the Finger Lakes region of New York State. There's something ominous brewing up there. Federal agents have been murdered and there are strange doings in the neighborhood of Penn Yan and Lake Keuka. Are the Rebels at work up there? Well, Jones is just the man to find out what. Upstate New York? The Civil War? How can anyone tie the two together? Well, Parry does and he does it with the same mastery of place, time, character and language that made "Faded Coat of Blue" such a refreshing plowing of that hallowed literary ground that was the Civil War.Now I come from those parts where the story takes place and Mr. Parry has walked the hills and lakeshores up there, wandered through those haunted woods and immersed himself in the mid-nineteenth century history of Upstate New York. Almost forgotten now is the Spiritualist movement that enthralled Americans back in the 1850s and '60s. The Spiritualists thought they could communicate with the dead through "mediums," mostly rather ordinary women through whom the dead were believed to communicate with the living when the medium was in a state of unconsciousness or "trance." Many prominent people, among them the clergy, believed in Spiritualism. The movement plays a big part in this story and Parry to his credit treats it not with ridicule but with the respect any historical event deserves. But there is one incident in this book that made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. Maybe there was something to it after all?Historical figures who were very much a part of the 1860s scene in Upstate New York -- Susan B. Anthony and Fredrick Douglass -- make appearances. Abel Jones looks at these greats through the eyes of a contemporary, a refreshing view to say the least!But what's going on up there? Why is Secretary of State Seward concerned? Is it the Irish immigrants, the dreaded Fenians? Are Confederate agents at work? What role is the "learned professor," Master of Spiritualism, Mesmerism, Egyptology, Kildare (or is it Kilraine?) playing? What is he doing up in Rochester, meeting with a high-born Englishman? And what of the irascible Catholic Priest, Fr. McCorkle? What does he know that he's not telling?And what of Nellie Kildaire, the Professor's daughter? Does she really talk to the dead? Is she insane? And what is this hold she seems to have on Major Jones, the stalwart Christian soldier?Overshadowning everything is nature, the woods, mysterious and deep, the isolation of the farms in the countryside and one of the worst winters an

SHADOWS OF GLORY marks the return of Abel Jones, the sterling and completely engaging character first met in Parry's FADED COAT OF BLUE. And what a welcome return it is. Living up to its billing as "a novel of historical suspense", SHADOWS delves into a shrouded but powerful threat to the Union during the Civil War, gathering force far from the front lines. Sent to a remote area of New York State to investigate the threat, Major Jones encounters a community of vividly drawn characters, one of which is nature itself in all its wondrous beauty and force. The social issues and interests of the period, as well as the intriguing diversity of people that populated the region, are deftly and gracefully presented through the characters themselves; historical fact blends seamlessly with the fiction. Even though Abel is far from the battlefields, the brutal urgency of the war is evoked through a series of heart-rending letters dispatched to him by a friend who is serving as a surgeon with General Grant's forces.It should be noted that with this excellent book, Owen Parry does present the reader with something of a dilemma: It is a genuine page-turner but the urge to gallop through the story is countered by the exquisite writing which invites you to slow to a trot and revel in the language. And that is a most rare and appreciated dilemma for any reader.