Review: I'm generally not a novella reader....
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 14, 2013
Yes, I'm generally not a novella reader, but I'm glad I made an exception in this case.Lately I've been interested in Civil War historical fiction. We're visiting historical sites in the east this summer, and what better way to take in history, but by enjoying it within a fiction book?I didn't believe I could get much out of a novella since they tend to cram a larger story into a smaller one with big chunks having to be left out for the sake of brevity.  However, I can't say that for this gem.  Return to Shirley Plantation packs a lot in a "small" book, nicely leaving out all nonessential page fillers that most people want to bypass anyway.Others have described the book's plot, so I don't need to be repetitive. My review comes from a mechanical stand point.  Ms. Pagels makes the most of the amount of space she can, as she weaves a story within an amazing amount of history.  She develops her characters in such a way that you do get a full sense (rather than an abbreviated one)of who they are and why you do or do not like them. This book (the first, I believe, in a collection of historical novellas on Civil War) was fascinating and thought provoking.Uppermost in my joy while reading this book was that Ms. Pagels respects the readers intelligence by not explaining every different term, yet she allows the reader discovery on their own (sign of a good teacher, by the way). For example, I didn't know what a Copperhead was (and I don't mean a snake), but had a great time "Googling" it. This caused me to look up a few other things to get a broader understanding and enjoy the book even more.I love when an author gives the reader a sense of the setting of a story, not just in describing what it looks like, but also bringing in real historical people and real landmarks that still exist today.Shirley Plantation was not on our agenda as we travel from one Civil War site to the next, but I think it just might be now.