By 
Shannon Terry Wiley, the Author of “Yellow September” has written an emotional and heartfelt novel. The Genres for this novel are : Epistolary Fiction, 19th Century Historical Fiction, Southern Fiction and Romance. The first timeline is set in September 1873 in Shreveport, Louisiana, when there is an epidemic of “Yellow Fever”. The timeline goes to the past and future when it pertains to the characters or events The author vividly describes the landscape and dark and dramatic characters. The characters are complex, complicated, and flawed. The story is narrated through some of the characters. I appreciate the amount of research that has gone into this story, and I also was intrigued by many of the historical events that occurred after the Civil War. This is a story of survival, tragic loss, love, the importance of family, friends and neighbors. There is so much death and sickness, that bodies were buried together in the cemetery, and there was a lack of doctors and qualified nurses to help. At this time in history, there was no understanding of how Yellow Fever was spread or could be contained.
People were told to leave for their safety. It is understandable that families couldn’t locate family members. Eugene and George were working for the Army Corp of Engineers to clear a log jamming situation in the Red River. George falls in love with a local farming girl, Katherine, who lives with her family. Katherine keeps their relationship very quiet, because her Grandfather doesn’t like outsiders and is cautious after the Civil War. The tragedy of the epidemic, and the losses of the survivors is heartbreaking. There also is a lack of communication, due to the lack of mailing services. I appreciate how the author discusses the importance of forgiveness, second chances, family , love and hope. I recommend this book to others.
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