Scarecrow in Gray... Barry D. Yelton

Show me five:

1.  the book I read was Scarecrow in Gray, Barry D. Yelton

2.  Two words to describe it:  Civil War Fiction

3.   The book is set in the south, we follow the last 8 months of the civil war with a young man from Rutherford County who has volunteered, reluctantly to join General Lee's army.  Francis, walks to meet with the army, he meets a neighbor and they stay together throughout the duration of the war.  

4.  What I liked about the book an what I didn't like about the book.

I liked the characters for the most part, I like the fact that these men hated killing in the war, that they felt for the enemy, and each other.  I liked their loyalty to one another, to their families, to their country, and how honorably they served.  I like the faith in God they had, and were willing to share.

I didn't like the fact that it was a bit slow.  It was quite graphic, and I found I had to read it in bits.  The characters were very stereo typical southerners.  I'm ever so glad there were no banjos.  I think anything bad that could happen, happened to this group, a little unbelievable, particularly in the short span of their travel.  Almost like the author needed to tell all the stories he could think of through these characters.  I would have liked to know a little more about what happened to them after their arrival at home. 

5 five stars or less for the book.  While I liked this book, I needed to finish it, just to see what happened.  I knew the main character would live, (too many spoilers throughout the book). I give it a 3.5 stars.  I read this book as part of my Civil War Challenge, I felt I read so many books from the point of view of the Northerners I needed to see the Southerners point of view.  I think the scene that will be in my mind for some time is the "piles of limbs" amputated from many a young soldier on both sides of the battle.   Horrific.

Photo of book I own.