Annie, Between the States

Keeping up the pace, even with a newborn, who has decided to have a constant bellyache (sometimes breastfeeding is so frustrating!)…

This Civil War youth fiction novel by L.M. Elliot had lots going for it, but somehow wasn’t as good as I’d hoped. I enjoyed the heroine — Annie Sinclair, a half-Irish Virginian fiercely loyal to Virginia and therefore the Confederacy, yet increasingly disturbed by both perceptions of Southerners, the attitutes of those around her towards blacks, and her growing love for a Union soldier. Makes for good melodrama. Except, I think, there was just too much. The novel spans almost the entire Civil War, and while she keeps it centered in Virginia, I often found myself skipping the war passages. Maybe it would have been better had the time been collapsed. That said, she did do an excellent job portraying the horrors of war, and how it touched every family in many varied ways — a brother looses an arm, her mother dies of diptheria, another brother becomes fiercely pro-Confederate and lusts after battle. She even spends time in a Federal prison. (Again, maybe it all was a bit too much…) I suppose, though, writing a novel set in the Civil War can’t be an easy thing to do, especially with a sympathetic Southern character. And, given that, Elliot’s book is a good read.

8 thoughts on “Annie, Between the States

  1. Meredith says:

    Thank you for the summary! I was thinking about getting the book and now I know that I will. I hope I enjoy it! (Then again, I probably will! haha)

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  2. Anonymous says:

    hi i read this book for a project! it was long and i did not want to read it then… i got into it! i even bought the book for my little sister to read!!🙂 ashlee ann*

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  3. Anonymous says:

    I read Annie, Between the States and loved it. At first I thought that it was another huge book that I will end up reading. Then I started reading it and in the end I read it 5 times and most of my friends read it and loved it.But I am curious about what happens to Annie in Massetussetts?Elsa J.

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  4. Anonymous says:

    I l-o-v-e Annie Between the states, but I wish I knew what happened to her afterward, and I want to know what happened to JAmie, and her other brother with her friend (I read this book the year it came out and can’t remember all the details). I wish I could have had all of my friends read, but they don’t like to read!! L.M. Elliot should really make a sequil to it, maybe with Annie’s daughter or with her again. I’d give this bokk out of a rating of 10, around 999,999,999,999.1 I recomend this book to people who love war stories with romance!!

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  5. Anonymous says:

    Thanks for the comments but you gave away parts of the book! I haven’t finished yet and it ruined parts for me! I love it so far and it assigned reading for school too!

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  6. Laura says:

    I had to read this book for school. it was so boring. i found myself skipping chapters. the good chapters are like the last four. if you want to read a long boring book this book is rght for you.

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  7. Anonymous says:

    Annie, Between the States is a great historical fiction work. Elliott puts clarity in all her characters, and gives the feel of the time period accurately.

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