All Things New

This book was hard to put down. It was filled with intrigue, mystery, and wonderful descriptions. I highly recommend it

Another wonderful story of redemption and love by Lynn Austin. Beautiful historical account of how life may have been during the days just after the civil war. Loved it!

I love Lynn Austin's books and this one confirmed my choice to have her as a favorite author. I won't go into details about the snynopsis so as not to ruin the book for others who haven't read it yet. It takes place in the immediate post war antebellum south when all the prosperous plantation owners now find themselves without much of anything. Food is scarce, firewood for warmth and cooking is scarce, clothing is scarce and there is no one to work their plantations since the slaves have been freed. These folks, however, can't get it wrapped around their head that they must change their attitudes about their superiority or they won't have a chance to make it in this new world.Austin tells the story from the viewpoint of three women: Lizzie, a former house slave on White Oak plantation, who lives with a dark secret and a new, menacing fear has arisen concerning her young daughter. Eugenia, the widowed mistress of White Oak, who is bitter to the bone and determined to get her old way of life back, no matter the cost. Josephine, Eugenia's eldest daughter, who has closed her heart to God because she thinks He doesn't care what has happened to her and her family. She realizes the old ways have to be laid to rest, but how can she convince her mother of this?Alexander Chandler, Yankee, is in the town to try to help the former slaves find work and make a home for themselves. He is alone in his belief in this southern town and faces not only opposition, but deadly danger to his life.Austin tells a powerful story of forgiveness, freedom, grace and mercy. There are so many moments in this book where the reader must stop and catch their breath and think about what our country went through so many years ago. This is a book of powerful emotions and it will bring a blessing to your heart. If you miss this, you have missed out on one of the best books of the year.

I liked the chronological chapters which kept the story line clear. However someone needs to correct the dates on a couple of chapters which were numbered 1965 & 1985 . It threw me off when I saw these dates.

I am a fan of Lynn Austin and have read most of her works. I found All Things New to be somewhat different from her other novels in that it seemed to be more theme based and less plot driven. The novel is set in Virginia at the end of the Civil War, and the characters all have to deal with change. The white Southerners need to deal with the death of their loved ones, and the end of life as they knew it. The former slaves have to deal with adjusting to freedom, in the face of Southerners who don't want them free. One character has to deal with a debilitating injury. All the characters seem to address the change in different ways... some positive, others negative. Consequently, it caused me as the reader to consider how I deal with change... and how I am similar to or different from the characters in the book.From a thematic approach, I would rate this as one of Ms. Austin's finest books. However, the plot seems to suffer, especially at the conclusion of the book. While the first 3/4 of the book is thought-provoking, in the last quarter of the book it seems as if Ms. Austin needs to tidy all the loose ends up. But there are many questions remaining at the end, and not all is resolved. Will real change occur in Josephine's brother? How will the injured captain adjust and change? Will the lives of the former slaves truly improve? Will they head west? I felt in Ms. Austin's other books she was much more adept at masterful plot twists and satisfactory resolutions at the book's conclusion.All things considered, I would strongly recommend this book. One disappointment with the Kindle edition... some of the chapter date headings have the year incorrectly posted as 1965, and opposed to 1865.

When I bought this book I had no idea who the author was, I had never read anything else before by this author so please note that her other books did not influence my purchase, this book is a book deeply based in the bible. If this is your genre then you will appreciate that. Personally I tend to shy away from books that are much like this one.That being said, if you read this book and take into account that during this time life was ruled very much by the bible then you can see that all the arguments presented when talking about slavery all have valid points. I do not abide by slavery but the arguments within the book would have been valid during this time period.Jo was someone I could identify with, she saw the value of the person regardless of color, or background. She was a true heroine, and brought much to the book. I feel that Ms. Austin did a lot of research on the subject before writing, and many of the trials were based on true stories, giving the reader a view of how twisted the ideas of slavery and reconstruction really were.The mother Eugenia longed for her life to return to the days before the freedom of the slaves, she relished her position in society with the balls and the slaves to do her bidding, but even she too in the end saw the darkness of it all. I felt this was a good book especially for people who know little of slavery or the time after, I think she is a gifted writer and she did a good job writing about a very difficult subject.

Lynn Austin shows wonderful insight and objectivity towards race issues and wider issues faced with the endings of the civil war from different characters perspectives.Wonderful love story between Josephine and Alexander in their journey of self learning, awareness, growth and self worth.I loved this story, heart warming characters in Lizzie, Ottis and Roselle and co.

Loved getting to know the characters in this novel, set in the aftermath of the war. Would love to read a sequel! Well done Lynn Austin! And thank you for the constant reminder to trust in The Lord, and seek Him in His Word, trusting in His Promises, because, knowing Him, this is life indeed!

One of a series on the American Civil War. I thought it was well written and I enjoyed it, but, for me, it didn't have quite the zing that the others in the series did. To me, It came over as being rushed and maybe lacked the thrill and depth of the others. But I did enjoy it never the less.

Wonderful book showing that even though the South won the war, a war of hatred rumbled on, and then eventually showing that we can start anew by becoming a Christian.

This book was a very enjoyable and entertaining read. It arrived promptly and was in good condition. I recommend this author if you want to be sure of reading something wholesome