The Crack Widens Irreconcilable Differences
(2024)(The fourth book in the Snakebit series)
A novel by John Poniske
In 1861, Lincoln’s election caused eleven Southern states to break with the Union. The peculiar institution of slavery, its continuation and spread into the Western Territories became the sticking point.
The Garrett family resides in Western Maryland, a border state that lies between the warring parties. There, opinions are as divided as the country, and emotions run hot. Because of their abolitionist leanings, the Garretts have their homestead burned. They have lost their patriarch, Valentine. His brother, James, falls at Bull Run. Their friend and Mennonite neighbor, Aaron, is lost at Ball’s Bluff. In the midst of it all, Toby, a little slave girl is rescued and taken in by the family as they pack up and move to Hagerstown, an important Maryland city near the Mason-Dixon Line.
In the first half of 1862, all hell breaks loose. Gabriel, the eldest Garrett boy leaves home to become a war correspondent. On his way to join Ulysses S. Grant’s western army, he finds himself waylaid and caught up in a Kentucky moonshine operation. As the story evolves, the Garretts and you the reader experience the fall of forts Henry and Donelson, the clash of iron juggernauts at Hampton Roads, the Southern invasion of New Mexico Territory, the fall of New Orleans and the advance of federal armies up the Virginia Peninsula.
The experiences of the Garrets and their friends, contrast with those of their Confederate counterparts in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Louisiana. Along the way we hear the perspectives of freedmen and slaves, Northern and Southern politicians, generals and privates, businessmen and preachers. This is an immersive dive into our fratricidal past, a great deal of history occurs in the first half of 1862. The Garrets witness it and at times participate in it.
The Snakebit Series may be fiction but it is steeped to overflowing with historical tidbits that will undoubtedly surprise you. Extensive author notes follow the story. I sincerely hope you enjoy your carriage ride through history.
Genre: Historical
The Garrett family resides in Western Maryland, a border state that lies between the warring parties. There, opinions are as divided as the country, and emotions run hot. Because of their abolitionist leanings, the Garretts have their homestead burned. They have lost their patriarch, Valentine. His brother, James, falls at Bull Run. Their friend and Mennonite neighbor, Aaron, is lost at Ball’s Bluff. In the midst of it all, Toby, a little slave girl is rescued and taken in by the family as they pack up and move to Hagerstown, an important Maryland city near the Mason-Dixon Line.
In the first half of 1862, all hell breaks loose. Gabriel, the eldest Garrett boy leaves home to become a war correspondent. On his way to join Ulysses S. Grant’s western army, he finds himself waylaid and caught up in a Kentucky moonshine operation. As the story evolves, the Garretts and you the reader experience the fall of forts Henry and Donelson, the clash of iron juggernauts at Hampton Roads, the Southern invasion of New Mexico Territory, the fall of New Orleans and the advance of federal armies up the Virginia Peninsula.
The experiences of the Garrets and their friends, contrast with those of their Confederate counterparts in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Louisiana. Along the way we hear the perspectives of freedmen and slaves, Northern and Southern politicians, generals and privates, businessmen and preachers. This is an immersive dive into our fratricidal past, a great deal of history occurs in the first half of 1862. The Garrets witness it and at times participate in it.
The Snakebit Series may be fiction but it is steeped to overflowing with historical tidbits that will undoubtedly surprise you. Extensive author notes follow the story. I sincerely hope you enjoy your carriage ride through history.
Genre: Historical
Used availability for John Poniske's The Crack Widens Irreconcilable Differences