Paths of Peace (Redmond Family Saga) (Volume 2)

In the months following the end of the Civil War, the South is in turmoil. Some men return, some do not, and of the ones who do return, many were carrying permanent injuries. Addiction to opium based pain killers is epidemic, as men who had started the war as hale and fit workers can no longer even climb stairs or hold a pen, or an axe or a hoe. The Redmond family is no different. The patriarch of the clan, who had been horribly injured at the Battle of Appomattox Station, is in constant pain, and is very limited in what he can do, with missing fingers, and a permanently damaged leg. His wife, Rebecca is occupied with trying to raise five very active children while rebuilding the horse farm that is her family’s traditional source of income. Charlie and Rebecca are joined by old friends from Culpeper and from the Army to rebuild their lives and the town of Culpeper, while new people slowly return or migrate to the town, hoping for a new life. In this carefully researched second book of the Redmond Family Saga, Charlie and Rebecca’s relationship continues to grow, as Charlie finally comes to recognize that he is indeed a man, though with the body of a woman, and to accept himself. Rebecca is pleased to have her Charlie back, and in one piece, if not physically, at least emotionally.