SEEING GLORY

Gardner’s historical novel of the Civil War follows the lives and times of a plantation owner’s bitterly divided family.  

The novel opens in 1856, describing the fallout of what would become known as the Pottawatomie massacre, in which the abolitionist John Brown and his followers killed five pro-slavery settlers. The impact of the event sent shock waves through American society, which is on the brink of war. The story then focuses specifically on the Hodge family, who live on a 700-acre tobacco plantation in Virginia and enslave more than 80 people. As unrest spreads, the family patriarch, Lawrence, grows increasingly anxious about the potential threat to his livelihood. After war comes, his daughter Emma works as a nurse but loses her job after protesting the abuse of a Black child at the hands of a Confederate States Army major. Lawrence’s son David meets Abel Bowman, a former follower of Brown, as they both witness Brown’s execution in 1859; when the country plunges into war, David goes north, becoming a first-rate war journalist who receives praise from President Abraham Lincoln himself. Both Emma and David become deeply committed to the abolition of slavery. Lawrence’s other daughter, Catherine, unlike her siblings, is a resolute Confederate who refuses to believe Emma’s accusations regarding the abuse of enslaved people on the family plantation and whose belief in the Confederacy seems unshakeable. The novel closes at the beginning of the Reconstruction era in 1865.

Gardner meticulously examines his main characters’ shifting attitudes, particularly through the lens of faith. The novel includes a wealth of thought-provoking dialogue that explores the contentious religious rhetoric that was used to legitimize slavery’s perpetuation: At one point, for example, he shows how Catherine seeks to justify her vile, ingrained beliefs by asking a pastor if enslaving others serves “a doubly useful purpose for society—because it supports not only our southern economy but also the continuing civilization and Christian enlightenment of the slaves themselves?” Portrayals of other characters, such as David, capture a longing for change: “There’s just something inside me that fights against so many of the things I’ve been taught.” Gardner is a keenly observant writer, gently bringing the Virginia landscape to life, such as “the sun-speckled, mirrored surface of the middle portion of the river, broken in only a few spots by small, swirling eddies.” However, the author also ably offers suspenseful and shocking scenes that capture the horrors of slavery. As in his previous novel, Hope of Ages Past (2018), the author seamlessly intertwines fiction with fact, as when David attends a lecture given by the abolitionist Frederick Douglass. The author’s great attention to detail roots his story firmly in its era and clearly reflects a wealth of careful research. Novels set during this time and place are commonplace, to be sure, but this one stands out due to its contemplative excavation of its characters’ religious beliefs before, during, and after the conflict.

A thoughtful and often compelling narrative that approaches the Civil War from a refreshing and provocative angle.