Tides of Healing by Sandra Merville Hart

 

 

July 4, 1863 Vicksburg. The Union had taken the city after a hard beating and starvation, and they freed slaves as they marched through the city and surrounding area. Savannah belonged to one of the wealthiest families in Vicksburg and lost all her help that day. The Union gave them supplies but she and her mother had never learned how to use them. An opportunity presented itself, and Savanah became a spy for the Confederates. A Union soldier came to her home as they had wounded soldiers there in the house, and they begin to know each other, softening the edges of their new lives. Seeing the aftermath of the war through each of their eyes brings out your compassion for each of them. Interesting illustration of the spy network and tension, wondering if Savannah will get caught, keep you turning the pages to the end. 

I received this book free from the author, publisher and CelebrateLit book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

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About the Book

Book: Tides of Healing

Author: Sandra Merville Hart

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release date: February 11, 2025

A Southern belle fights to reclaim her home, but will her spying destroy the Union officer she never meant to love? 

Savannah Adair has endured the unimaginable, hiding in a cave while her beloved Vicksburg was under siege. With the city now occupied by Union soldiers, Savannah cannot stand by and do nothing. So when one of the gaunt, half-starved Confederate prisoners asks her to spy for the South, she can’t refuse the chance to take back her home.

First Lieutenant Travis Lawson takes pride in the Union army’s hard-fought victory, but he quickly realizes that the challenges of rebuilding and reconciliation are just beginning . . . and not everyone is appreciative of changes he’s making. Namely, the fiery and alluring Savannah Adair. Despite their differing loyalties and the societal divide between them, Travis cannot deny the growing feelings he has for her. When he is tasked with finding Southern spies in Vicksburg and he captures a female spy, Travis is forced to consider that the woman he’s beginning to love may be the enemy.

 

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About the Author

Sandra Merville Hart, award-winning and Amazon bestselling author of inspirational historical romances, loves to discover little-known yet fascinating facts from American history to include in her stories. Her desire is to transport her readers back in time. She is also a blogger, speaker, and conference teacher.

 

 

 

 

More from Sandra

As I typed away on this final book in my Spies of the Civil War Series, it felt as if I’d written the entire series to tell this story.

Previously, I had felt a similar importance of an as yet unpublished two-book contemporary series, but the sense that the whole series climaxed with the final book was as surprising as it was welcome.

Because it seemed as if everything that happened in all the earlier books culminated in Book 6 for me as an author. Its significance reverberated in my soul while still researching the events…and weeks before I sat to pen the first page, the first paragraph, the first sentence.

That sense of importance made this book difficult to begin. The early chapters took far longer to write than normal.

I believe that those who only read Tides of Healing will have a satisfying, complete story. Those who read the entire series in order—or at least Books 4-6 set in Vicksburg—will experience a deeper impact as the characters’ stories build on one another.

There is a song in Tides of Healing. As an author, the impact of the lyrics within the story preceded it, meaning that I knew a certain song would play a significant role while still in the research phase.

Let me explain.

When I’m researching a story, I read a variety of nonfiction resources including diaries, journals, and newspaper accounts. My research for Vicksburg during the Civil War led me to song lyrics written by the enslaved.

African American Spirituals, also called Negro Spirituals, were sung before and after the Civil War. These Christian songs served a variety of purposes beyond bolstering hope and faith during dark days. They told stories about Biblical characters like Moses. Some comforted the sorrowful and some rejoiced with the joyful. They were sung in churches, in camp meetings, and in the fields.

They often contained secret messages. “Home” in a song can refer to Heaven, but the secret meaning was a free country. Author Frederick Douglas had been a former slave. He wrote that the lyrics to “O Canaan, Sweet Canaan” signified more than a hope of Heaven. Repeated singing of the lyrics “I am bound for the land of Canaan” announced an intention to go North, their Canaan.

The Underground Railroad is a theme in Tides of Healing. In 1828, Reverend John Rankin built his home on a hill overlooking the Ohio River in Ripley, Ohio. As a station on the Underground Railroad, this home was easily seen from the opposite side of the river in the slave state of Kentucky. Runaways waited for a boat to take them across the river.

It surprised me to learn that the lyrics of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” are about this station. “I looked over Jordan and what did I see?” refers to the Ohio River. The band of angels are people who rowed them across the wide river to the free state of Ohio.

Neither of these songs is referenced in Tides of Healing. The tune that is in my story was a popular spiritual leading up to the war. I listened to it many times. The message took root in my heart long before it affected my characters.

My research trip to Vicksburg’s battlefield and museums inspired the writing of Streams of Courage, Book 4, River of Peril, Book 5, and Tides of Healing, Book 6.

Avenue of Betrayal, Book 1, is set in the Union capital of Washington City (Washington DC) in 1861, where a surprising number of Confederate sympathizers and spies lived. Boulevard of Confusion and Byway to Danger are set in Richmond, the Confederate capital in 1862. Actual historical spies touch the lives of our fictional family. The heroines in Books 1 – 3 are two sisters and their cousins. Another set of characters begin with Book 4, and three friends are the heroines in Books 4 -6.

Through both real and fictional characters, this series highlights activities spies were involved in and some of the motives behind their decisions.

I invite you to read the whole Spies of the Civil War Series!

Blog Stops

Bizwings Book Blog, February 26
Holly’s Book Corner, February 27
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, February 27
Locks, Hooks and Books, February 28
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, March 1
Pause for Tales, March 2
Texas Book-aholic, March 2
Devoted To Hope, March 3
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, March 4
Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, March 5
Betti Mace, March 5
Life on Chickadee Lane, March 6
Cover Lover Book Review, March 7
Books You Can Feel Good About, March 8
Connie’s History Classroom, March 9
For HIm and My Family, March 10
Stories By Gina, March 11 (Author Interview)
Blossoms and Blessings, March 11

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Sandra is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf54163

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The Memory Keeper of Kyiv by Erin Litteken

 

This is a story that is difficult to read, haunting. The writing and storytelling make you feel like you're there, but that's the problem. It starts in 1929 in Ukraine when things were still mostly normal for Katya and her family, but it changed quickly. Per the author between 1932 and 1933, one in every eight Ukrainians died in this manmade famine. Stalin had taken over, requiring that the people "support the state" by turning over everything they had, forcing collectivization on them. People who didn't comply were killed or deported, taxed beyond being able to pay. This story of survival was recorded and revealed in 2004, this story flipping back and forth between times to explain what happened. Seventy years later, a young widow discovered her grandmother’s journal that will reveal the long-buried secrets of her family’s haunted past. The high cost of survival from treatment like this, treatment over years. Riveting, heart wrenching, hard to put down. This country is at war again with Russia, so it's even more important to be reminded of what happened there before. Hard to believe that it could happen again now in this day and age. 

I received this book free from the publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

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The Lost Daughter by Gill Paul

A family tragedy. A fight for love. A long-buried secret.

Russia 1918, the Tsar and Tsarina Romanov were executed in the Revolution.  There were conflicting reports as to whether their five children were also executed. Because of the opulence and romance of a royal family, it was hoped that one or more of the children had escaped and hid themselves. I remember as I was growing up hearing different stories of what could have happened, mostly about Anastasia. I had not heard anything about Maria. It was interesting to read about her and what she may have been like. The incredible detail of the writing makes you feel as though you are there. Not a quick read, it takes you through the pain, suffering, starvation and cruel living conditions in Russia at that time, also weaving in a more recent day (1973) character in Australia. Smoothly done. Holds your interest until the very end. Mild sexual content.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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No Ocean Too Wide A Novel by Carrie Turansky

It's hard not to read ahead. 1909 England. Excruciating story of a poor family from London. The father had died and the mother got sick. The oldest girl was in service some distance away. When the rent wasn't paid on time and they didn't have enough to eat, the boy tried to steal some bread to feed them and was caught, starting an avalanche of problems. The three were put into a children's home, then sent to Canada, thinking their mother had died and their older sister didn't care. The story is written with great detail and each character comes fully to life. 

Great injustice and bright light shown on the holes in the system of removing children from England. Between the 1860s and the 1930s, more than one hundred eighteen thousand poor and orphaned children were sent to Canada as British Home Children. Much good was done when good people were involved, but so much cruelty took place for many unfortunate children, and no good system was in place to put it in check. This story also tells of two good men who were sent to investigate the system, and how they became involved. And the relationship of Laura, the oldest daughter and Andrew a wealthy lawyer who helped them all. Excellent read that will keep you on edge throughout. If not for the underlying story of God's grace and love, it would be so much harder yet to read. You feel a relationship with each of the characters as their story is brought to light.

"If she found Jesus in the pages of that Bible, she would have a friend who would never leave her side . . . and that was what she needed most for the journey ahead."

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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Shadow Among Sheaves by Naomi Stephens

"Most days she found her own past too painful in its vastness."

England 1861. Intricate tale of a young Indian woman who married a British soldier, heir to a fortune. Similar to the biblical Ruth, when he and his father both died, she left India to follow her mother-in-law back to England. Neither realizing just how tough it would be. Severely rejected because of her race and nationality, both women were rejected and shunned by everyone and forced to live in a way neither had experienced before.

Lord Barric grudgingly felt compelled to help these women,  relatives by marriage. At first, he just allowed Rena to glean from his field. The story is excruciatingly painful to read at times, vividly brought to life by this talented author. Unfairness of discrimination, both of race and because they were women in the society of this day and age. And the customs of both countries. Through Rena, the beauty of the Indian people is unfolded. Although in India, the people didn't respect widows at that time; treated them harshly. In many parts of India, widows were beaten and shunned, cursed and spat upon, their clothes stripped away and ornaments ripped from their piercings so even their skin and flesh were broken. In the Indian state of Punjab, the term for widow was synonymous with the word for prostitute. But love has no racial boundaries.

“We are so much more than our reputation,” she finally managed to reply, her face warming. “Stories cheat; truth is found only in friendship.”

I was blessed to meet and work with people from India for a while, even more blessed to call these beautiful people friends. A time and friendship that I will always treasure. I didn't learn nearly enough about them and the land that they came from. The beauty and dignity of the main character in this story made me think of them.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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Read a preview of the book here.

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This Road We Traveled by Jane Kirkpatrick

I have been blessed with strong women who were/are wonderful role models. My Grandmother who was my best friend, my Sister In Law Paula who died of complications from Lupus. I am blessed to still have my Mother and Mother In Law. I have learned and gathered strength from each of them. I believe that Jane Kirkpatrick’s book All Together in One Place should be required reading for all women. This book would be my next choice.

Another enriching masterpiece by Jane Kirkpatrick full of life’s wisdom told from a rich Christian view. Based on the true story of Tabitha (Tabby) Moffat Brown, in her 60’s, who traveled to Oregon.  Her children had decided to go, but decided that Tabby was too old and lame to be able to make the journey. She determined to go anyway, funding her own wagon.

Tabitha is known as “The Mother of Oregon”, who established an orphanage, school and university in the Tualatin Plains following the tragedy at Whitman Mission in 1847. She was among the first to travel the Scott-Applegate Trail in 1846 – an alternate trail to Oregon that didn’t follow the Columbia River. They decided to split off from most of the group and try this new trail, later finding that it had not been cut yet for wagons to pass. Most wagon trail stories tell of the difficulty and tragedy emigrants experienced – this also includes starvation. A widow, she traveled with her brother in law, who was 18 years older than she. At one point the two of them barely survived a three-day journey they traveled alone. It’s amazing that anyone survived it, let alone this elderly malnourished couple, each with disabilities.

There are always so many things to learn from Jane’s books. A perspective on life’s trials, a way to view our situations - not with a pity party but with great wisdom. I’d like to share some examples that inspired me, interspersed within the story. At one point Tabby wished they had taken “the more established route, but it was too late now. Regrets must be treated like wounds, remembered only for how well they healed. Or didn’t.” “We gather facts, then listen to our hearts.” “Think of all the discoveries about life and living and myself that I’ll enjoy.” “We must leap on a cloud of faith, believing that we won’t fall through. Not only that we won’t fall through, but that we will thrive on that cloud of faith, draw new energy each time we need it, knowing that God is an unending source of hope no matter the trial. That’s what journeys are about, you know. It’s not just the destination. “
I truly hope you’ll read this and other books that Jane has written. You’ll find your views expanded and greatly enriched, with perspectives that will help lift and support you through life.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the Author and Revell/Baker Publishing Group - Netgalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”.

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