A fine YA romance set during the Civil War, and is better than the Sunfire "Susannah" in pacing and treatment of the slavery issue. Here, slavery is not glossed over by constant reference to "servants" as in Susannah. This book has a pleasing heroine with a complex family situation and feelings of isolation in both family and country. There is also some fine atmosphere of a Charleston girls' boarding school where the heroine and her friends are being groomed to be ladies in a changing society. The ending of the story wasn't what I expected - downbeat, with a glimmer of hope. It was very much like the Sunfire "Veronica" in that respect. I kind of wished it had gone on for another few hundred pages!

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