The Hidden Light of Northern Fires
A Novel
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4.7 • 6 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
"Splendid—a distinctive clear-eyed perspective on a fresh corner of the Civil War." —Charles Frazier, New York Times bestselling author of Cold Mountain
"A wise and timely book." —Ron Rash, New York Times bestselling author of Serena
Rooted in the history of the only secessionist town north of the Mason Dixon Line, Daren Wang's The Hidden Light of Northern Fires tells a story of redemption amidst a war that tore families and the country apart.
Mary Willis has always been an outcast, an abolitionist in a town of bounty hunters and anti-Union farmers. After college, she dreams of exploring the country, but is obligated to take over the household duties and management of her family’s farm, while her brother Leander avoids his own responsibilities. Helping runaways is the only thing that makes her life in Town Line bearable.
When escaped slave Joe Bell collapses in her father’s barn, Mary is determined to help him cross to freedom in nearby Canada. But the wounded fugitive is haunted by his vengeful owner, who relentlessly hunts him up and down the country, and his sister, still trapped as a slave in the South.
As the countryside is riled by the drumbeat of civil war, rebels and soldiers from both sides bring intrigue and violence of the brutal war to the town and the farm, and threaten to destroy all that Mary loves.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Wang's uneven first novel chronicles how the Civil War affects the members and acquaintances of the prominent Willis family in Town Line, a small farming community near Buffalo, N.Y., and the only secessionist town north of the Mason-Dixon line. After barely escaping a confrontation with bounty hunters, fugitive slave Joe Bell is hidden by Mary Willis, the progressive daughter of influential Town Line founder Nathan. Joe fled the Virginia plantation where he was enslaved after a run-in with Yates Bell, the resentful son of the plantation owner, who vows to see Joe dead. Joe worries about his sister, Alaura, whom he had to leave behind. Meanwhile, Yates has a foil in Mary's brother, Leander, who spends much of the book wondering why he's never good enough for his dad while squandering cash and avoiding his responsibilities. He gives up Joe and gets their father shot in a skirmish, causing a rift between himself and Mary, who manages to prevent Joe from being re-enslaved. As the war goes on, the story focuses on two searches: Joe attempts to locate Alaura while Leander tries to find him. Wang's characters are either mustache-twirling bad guys or so good they practically glow with righteousness; a bit of nuance would have been welcome. The book's ending also rings untrue, with the seemingly fierce heroine paired off into a happily-ever-after that comes out of nowhere.
