Title: A Beautiful Glittering Lie: A Novel of the Civil War
Author: J. D. R. Hawkins
Publisher: Westwood Books Publishing LLC
ISBN: 978-1-64361-995-8
Pages: 199
Genre: Historical Fiction, Civil War
Reviewed by: Jason Lulos
Pacific Book Review
At no time in our history was the country more polarized than during the Civil War. Unfortunately, America’s ongoing problem of “us versus us” continues to this day. Revisiting the histories, movies, and novelizations of the Civil War is not just an escape to the evocative poetry and prose of this pivotal event it is also a necessary, ongoing history lesson. Author J. D. R. Hawkins’ A Beautiful Glittering Lie is a brilliant work of historical fiction that addresses both escapism and historical context. It considers the country at war with itself from the Confederate perspective and from a less political, more local and intimate level as how the conflict affects a small, God-fearing, farming family from Northern Alabama.
The novel opens with Jefferson Davis delivering a speech in acceptance as President of the Confederate States of America. Hiram Summers, his son David, along with family and friends listen intently. When Hiram and his friend Bud talk of the politics that have led to this point, they are as assured of the righteousness of their cause as their Northern opponents. Bud says it is “our war for independence.” They discuss slavery, The Homestead Act, and other significant issues, but in the end, it is for honor, patriotism, and protecting their way of life that commits them to the fight.
Hiram and Bud enlist, leaving David at home to watch over the family farm, his mother, and two sisters. David yearns for the adventures of battle but is determined to protect his family per his father’s request. The story shifts seamlessly back and forth between Hiram’s battles and David’s life on the home front. Hawkins gives readers a broad (but again, intimate) perspective of the effects of war: the carnage of the battles but also the struggles of those at home, particularly David and his mother. Hawkins skillfully intersperses historical battles, events, songs, and figures giving the story historical accuracy and a sense of realism. The descriptive battle scenes can be graphic but necessarily so. The violence is offset but the utterly poetic way Hawkins describes characters’ thoughts and reflections as well as Hiram’s shifting landscapes.
This is an engaging, beautifully written novel and notably a winner of the John Esten Cooke Fiction award and a B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree. As a Civil War novel, it excels in combining historical events with the mostly intimate portrait of the Summers family. Being written from a Confederate perspective is important to the story, but the effect on the family takes precedence over just which side is being represented. The book is extremely well researched with acknowledgments to R. T. Cole’s diary and notes as part of the 4th Alabama Volunteer Infantry.
I highly recommend this novel because it is a superbly crafted Civil War story. And note that it is the first in Hawkins’ Renegade series. So, if you enjoy this book, as I did, be sure to seek out the continuation of the Summers family saga in the next book of the series: A Beckoning Hellfire.
