Dreams of Savannah by Roseanna M. White

Dreams of Savannah by Roseanna M. White ISBN-13: 9780764237478 Paperback: 400 pages Publisher: Bethany House Released: January 5th 2021

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Cordelia Owens can weave a hopeful dream around anything and is well used to winning the hearts of everyone in Savannah with her whimsy. Even when she receives word that her sweetheart has been lost during a raid on a Yankee vessel, she clings to hope and comes up with many adventurous tales of his eventual homecoming to reassure his mother and sister.

Struggling for months to make it home alive, Phineas Dun returns to Savannah injured and cynical, and all too sure that he is not the hero Cordelia seems determined to make him. Matters of black and white don't seem so simple anymore to Phin, and despite her best efforts, Delia's smiles can't erase all the complications in his life. And when Fort Pulaski falls and the future wavers, they both must decide where the dreams of a new America will take them, and if they will go together.


My Review:
Dreams of Savannah is a romance set in 1861 in Georgia (and briefly in Cuba). Phineas' family owns a plantation with slaves, though his grandfather had intended to free the slaves at his death. A new law prevented the freeing of slaves. Still, Phineas went off to join the Confederate Navy to defend his home and way of life and in hopes of winning the approval of Cordelia's father. Phineas loved that Cordelia's a storyteller and how she cared for the people around her. When he's wounded, washed overboard, and presumed dead, Cordelia's pressured by her father to marry someone that doesn't respect her and only wants her fortune. Even though Cordelia's world is shattering around her, she bravely stands against the pressure to conform and for what is right.

The main characters were complex, engaging, and reacted realistically to events. I cared about what happened to them. They grew as people as they faced hardship and relationship struggles. I liked how Phineas and Cordelia admired and loved the uniqueness of each other. Events refined that love and showed that they had chosen things more desirable in a marriage partner than power and wealth. The historical details were woven into the story and brought the time period alive in my imagination. There was a lot of suspense from the danger from the war and from those tempted to mistreat Cordelia and the slaves. Blacks (both free and slaves) were major characters with fully developed backgrounds. One major character was a Christian preacher who helped to further shape Phineas' views about slavery. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd highly recommend this interesting, suspenseful novel.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


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