First Line Friday – 11 January 2019 – With This Pledge (Tamera Alexander)

Welcome to First Line Friday, hosted by Hoarding Books! The book I’m sharing with you today is hot off the press, released just three days ago! Tamera Alexander’s With This Pledge is the first book in her new Carnton series, and is based on a real-life love story set amidst the aftermath of the Battle of Franklin.

~ About the Book ~

What can a woman–a mere governess–do against the scourge of slavery?

Elizabeth “Lizzie” Clouston’s quietly held principles oppose those of the Southern Cause–but when forty thousand soldiers converge on the fields of Franklin, Tennessee, the war demands an answer. The Carnton home, where she is governess, is converted into a Confederate hospital, and Lizzie is called upon to assist the military doctor with surgeries that determine life or death. Faced with the unimaginable, she must summon fortitude, even as she fears for the life of Towny, her fiancé and lifelong friend.  

As a young soldier lies dying in Lizzie’s arms, she vows to relay his final words to his mother, but knows little more than the boy’s first name. That same night, decorated Mississippi sharpshooter Captain Roland Ward Jones extracts a different promise from Lizzie: that she intervene should the surgeon decide to amputate his leg.  

Lizzie is nothing if not a woman of her word, earning the soldiers’ respect as she tends to the wounded within Carnton’s walls. None is more admiring than Captain Jones, who doesn’t realize she is pledged to another. But as Lizzie’s heart softens toward the Confederate captain, she discovers his moral ground is at odds with her own. Now torn between love, principles, and pledges made, she struggles to be true to her own heart while standing for what she knows is right–no matter the cost.   

From the pages of history and the personal accounts of those who endured the Battle of Franklin, Tamera Alexander weaves the real-life love letters between Captain Roland Ward Jones and Miss Elizabeth Clouston into a story of unlikely romance first kindled amid the shadows of war.

Amazon US  //  Goodreads

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~ First Line ~

“And this, children, is a drawing of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. Which is a very long way from Franklin, Tennessee.”

It’s a great read so far!

I’d love it if you’d share the first line of whatever you’re currently reading in the comments. And don’t forget, you can find out what other bloggers are sharing for First Line Friday by going over to Hoarding Books blog and finding all the links. If you’ve got your own blog, why not join in and add your link over there. 🙂