A Separate Country

After many years of battle a Gallant General has come to a new strange city to begin a new life.  Little did he know the adventure and tragedy that was going to unfold in the years to come, General John Bell Hood, legend of the Confederate Army known for being ruthless has begun the quest to find a wife and build a family after the war.  His quest begins in New Orleans a fairly new city that is bustling with social classes, as well as life and death. 

General Hood has been victorious on the battlefields but will he be victorious at home, after coming to New Orleans he finds his wife a beautiful upper class women who is very confident and heartwarming.  This story takes place in the 1800s when New Orleans was just beginning, the hustle and bustle of a shipping town during the time of plagues, wars and slavery.  War being the only thing he knew, General Hood attempts to enter the business world thinking that his stature would coast him through life, he had a lot to learn.

Throughout the book you begin to get a glimpse of life as they saw it, you hear the stories of not only General Hood but that of his beautiful wife Anna Marie Hennon Hood, Mr. Eli Griffith a man who has a grudge with General Hood, Paschal Girard, Rintrah King and Michel Martin three childhood friends of Anna Marie who all hold a secret and finally Mr. Sebastian Lemerle a former colleague of General Hood.  Each person has a different view and different account of the same events that have happened over the years, and each person has additional information that the others do not know about.

You will see the struggles that each person in this book faced during this time, the feelings they shared, whether it be happiness, love, anger or sorrow, a great account of what a family and their friends go through.  The book is a little slow in the beginning but once you get past that it flows effortlessly. 

General John Bell Hood, is he a war hero, a troubled man, or a man that is in love.   You be the judge.