A REASON TO LIVE

Author: Maureen McKade ISBN: 0425212203 9/2006 HISTORICAL Publisher: BERKLEY SENSATION
Time Period: Post Civil War

How could I refuse the wish of a dying man? May 30, 1865: During the Civil War, I watched over too many young boys in the hospital, comforting them as they cried out for those they loved, as they whispered their final thoughts to me. Keeping a record of their names, families, and last words seemed a small tribute to their sacrifice--until the war ended, and I found a new mission in life. I would visit the loved ones of those poor soldiers and deliver their messages, so that some comfort could be found even in grief... But Laurel Covey never expected to find a man like Creede Forrester--an ex-gunslinger who rode all the way from Texas to Virginia in the hope of finding his son, and ended up saving her from a band of ruffians. It pains her deeply to tell him of his boy's death, and she believes that in his heart, Creede blames himself for driving his son away. But there is something more to this rugged, weary man. Something that draws Laurel closer to him...something she cannot resist...

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

What a treat!

Not only does Maureen McKade infuse A REASON TO LIVE with two remarkably sketched characters, she gives incredibly similar attention to the story's sense of time and of place.

Image the South immediately following the Civil War. Imagine the death, the maiming, the destruction, the complete ravagement of a way of life.

Ms. McKade captures the helpless and the hopelessness of a unique, flawed society beautifully.

A reader almost feels as if she/he is by Laurel Covey's side as she journeys across the South, fulfilling a promise to dying confederate soldiers.

Laurel and Creede Forrester are larger-than-life, multi-dimensional characters who almost leap from the pages of A REASON TO LIVE. These two haunted, conflicted characters are not only achingly believable—as is their romance—but do indeed give each other a reason to live.

The secondary characters who flit in and out of this story on Laurel's quest are also well-done.

In fact, just about everything in Ms. McKade's simple, straightforward story is well-done. The characters, the setting, the time period all come to vivid life in Ms. McKade's capable hands.

Fast moving, absorbing, heartwrenching and touching with sparks of humor, A REASON TO LIVE is highly recommended.

Debbie Jett