The Second Mrs. Hockaday

 Susan Rivers wrote The Second Mrs. Hockaday and I think she chose a poor title. Yes, Placidia Hockaday is the second Mrs. Hockaday but that is not the point of the story. This story in set during the Civil War. Placidia married Gryffth Hockaday who is a colonel in the Confederate Army. He is home on leave and happens to buy a mule from Placidia's father. His wife had just died of typhoid fever and he is nursing his son, Charlie, back to health. The next day he asks for Placidia's hand in marriage. Placidia, only 17, agrees to marry him even though he is twice her age. The next day they travel to his 300 acre farm. Two days after that Gryffth is called back to duty. He doesn't come home for two years. Putting a 17 year old in charge of a farm and asking her to raise his son is a recipe for disaster. Placidia tries her best but life on a South Carolina farm is not easy during the Civil War. The story is cleverly told by a series of letters, some pages from a diary, and a report of a legal inquest against Placidia. This historical fiction is based on a true event. If the author had written about the slaves who helped Placidia instead of just using them to tell Placidia's story, I think this would have been a better book.