A review by debs4jc
All Things New by Lynn Austin

3.0

I liked the story. I just thought, especially at the end, that it was unbelievable for the time period and setting. It alternates points of view between the daughter of a white plantation owner and a woman who was formerly enslaved on that plantation. Josephine is the daughter and the events of the civil war have caused her to question how she was raised. Her mother, Eugenia, also gets to chime in and she is very much rooted in the past. So while Josephine wants to help their one remaining servant - Lizzie, their former enslaved field hand - her mother wants her to resume calling on neighbors and looking for a husband. I definitely sympathized a lot with Josephine, who seem to see the realities of their new life and who was willing to change so that they could survive. Her mother just kept thinking about the past and whining about what she didn't have anymore, which was annoying. Their lives all change yet again when a Yankee named Alexander sets up an office of the Freedman's bureau. Lizzie is excited about the prospect of her children going to school. Eugenia is horrified. And Josephine is intrigued by Alexander and his strange new ideas. The resulting twists and turns are pleasant enough to follow, and the themes of embracing the changes that move us toward God was pleasant. However I thought the ending was very contrived and implausible for the time period. My final verdict I guess would be that this historical romance was kind of a mixed bag for me - some good parts and characters that I enjoyed, but I did not find it very believable.