While many novels have been written about the actual Civil War, fewer have focused on the Kansas-Missouri debacle that proved to be a microcosm of the powder keg that would explode as a result of decisions made in that initial conflict. The characters are likeable, intelligent, humorous, spunky and passionate people whose zest for adventure is met and then some! Superb historical fiction this reviewer highly recommends.
~ Viviane Crystal ~ Historical Novel Society
This story sucked me in from the very first pages. Lincoln has a gift for writing prose that is both lyrical and highly readable, and she creates some very memorable characters. It’s the story of a relationship between two people who don’t seem to fit within the boundaries of traditional society, yet who manage to find one another. The historical backdrop of the Civil War period and related events makes for an action-packed read that balances out the romantic element of the book. Recommended for readers of historical fiction, particularly set during the U.S. Civil War.
~ Too Fond
Years ago in fiction workshop, this manuscript leaped out at me with the most memorable opening line I’d seen in forever:
I saw a woman hanged on my way to the Pittsburgh docks.
You might expect the novel to be about women’s liberation, the right to vote, feminism, or any number of related subjects, but it’s so much more than that. This is the story of one strong, intelligent woman who really lived, Agnes Canon. She waited a long, long time to get married. Only one of her children survived to adulthood. From that one child, generations of descendants followed. One of them, Deborah Lincoln, took the time and trouble to write a book about her. . . .
~ Carol Kean, Book Reviews, Cosmic Rants
You MUST read this!
I read this entire book in 2 days because I fell so deeply in love with Agnes. I just felt like I understood her, not as a character but as a woman. Agnes Canon’s War is the story of a woman who just wants to build and live her life on her terms. She wants freedom; she wants to live as she wishes away from the obligations of her society. Haven’t we all, at some point, felt the same way? Her war isn’t fought on the battlefield or in a uniform, it’s fought as she struggles to find her own identity within a world where she doesn’t belong. She was just a woman so far ahead of her time and her story will just draw you in from the very first page. Actually, it will draw you in from the very first sentence.
You will want to read about Agnes and Jabez. You will think about this book when you’re not reading and you will procrastinate other things on your to-do list just to squeeze in another 10 or 15 minutes with them. This book? It’s fantastic! I have it right now only as an eBook but it’s the kind of book I want to buy in hardcover. I want to put it on my shelf and then, when people visit my home, pull it off the shelf, shove it in their hands and say, “THIS. You must read THIS!”
~ Ashley LaMar, Forever Ashley
Your book had what I found most compelling in Irving Stone’s biographies; and also Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth comes to mind. I’m talking about the quality of the research and especially the author’s ability to take the reader to another time and place. I felt like I could really see Agnes and her surroundings and related to every character in the book. They were all so rounded out. Agnes Canon’s War was like watching a movie in my head instead of reading words. This, in my mind, constitutes the ultimate success of a historical novel. Congratulations.
~Laura Collins, Artist, Netarts, Oregon
You can’t not love Agnes Canon. Fiercely independent and strong, she loves books—and hates corsets. Folded beneath the cover—stunningly simple yet evocative landscape with Agnes front and center—unfurls a truly amazing story of Missouri during the Civil War. And then there’s the author—with a name like Deborah Lincoln, how could she not write historical fiction set in a time when the freedoms of not just African Americans were restricted but those of all women? I’m thrilled to welcome Deborah as we talk about her book, AGNES CANON’S WAR (Blank Slate Press, 2014).
SEE the interview at Leslie Lindsay: Live, Love, Write