Long Shadows by Abigail Cutter

This U.S. Civil War novel unfolds a Confederate infantryman’s story within a boldly unique supernatural structure. Tom Smiley has been dead for generations but is trapped by his tormented memories in his long-abandoned Shenandoah Valley family farmhouse when a descendant and his wife arrive to begin renovations. Objects and letters are disturbed, stirring Tom’s recall, even though for decades he had done his “best to avoid recollecting the cruelest particulars of the circus of war and the whisper of Death’s wing.”

Powerful scenes ensue, portraying Tom’s descent from an ordinary teenage country boy who, with his friends, is swept up into provincial rebellion fervor. The boys deal with the squalor of a Civil War soldier’s existence and must face the terror and horrors of battle, and then endure the abject misery of a Union prison camp. Loyalties to his friends from home sustain Tom, but losses along the way are inevitable, leaving him to not only rue his failures, but also to anguish over the meaning of his actions. His emotional pain is palpable, and his anger grows as he reflects on the Southern elite who pushed him, his family, and friends into rebellion fueled by an unjustifiable cause to sustain the institution of slavery—and the devastating costs of war.

Tom’s journey towards absolution and eternal rest is both moving and well-researched period-perfect as the narrative explores the depths of his loyalties to those around him, and his convictions to the Southern way of life. An impressive debut by an author with deep links to the Virginia setting and subject.