I loved this story. the adventures that Sarah went through were fascinating. The trials that Sarah had to endure in order to feel useful were heart breaking. Her plot to become something she was not in order to escape the person she didn't want to be made me root for her success. She had a tremendous amount of courage and imagination in order to be able to live a secret life especially when she found herself falling in love. The turmoil it caused her in trying to decide rather or not to divulge her true identity to the man she loved while she watched as he falls for someone else was was hard to bear. Truly an awesome story of an extraordinary woman in a time when being such was not a pleasant thing to be.

I was a little disappointed with this book. I expected something similar to another of P.G. Nagle's books that I recently reviewed - Red River, but this book just didn't grab me at all in the same way as Red River did. This was another early reviewer copy and I thank the author and the publisher for the chance to read and review this book. The novel is based on a true story of the union army career of Emma Edmonds. Emma left home at an early age and began a life living as a man. When the Civil War broke out she enlisted as her male alter-ego - Franklin Thompson. Emma, as Frank, served from May of 1861 until she deserted on April of 1863. Emma, living as Frank, did fairly well for herself in the union army. She started out serving in the army hospitals and in various field hospitals, and then transferred to the postal service until finally becoming postmaster. During that whole time, Emma lived in fear of her secret being discovered. She develops strong friendships in the army, and she finds two love interests. But, in the end, she deserted because it became too dangerous for her when a number of her mentors left, and she was very uneasy because she thought she'd be discovered. The battle scenes in the book are very realistically portrayed, but Emma's story just seemed to drag a bit for my taste. I found I was pushing myself to continue reading and I didn't seem to really connect with the character of Emma. Nagle's grasp of the American Civil War and of this time in history is extensive, and the tragedies and heart-wrenching tales of this war between the states are very well portrayed. This book was written from the Union army standpoint. Red River was based on the Confederate side. It is interesting to compare the two viewpoints. ( )

I couldn't get through this book. Even if it was based on a true story, I found the "feminism" incongruent with the setting to the point I couldn't finish. ( )

(I took care to give no obvious spoilers about the story)

Title: A Call to Arms: The Civil War Adventures of Sarah Emma Edmonds, alias Private Frank Thompson (on Librarything)
Author: P. G. Nagle
Language: English
Series: no
Format of publication: e-book
Number of pages: 726 on my phone (268 in paperback format)
Publisher: Evennight Books, Cedar Crest, New Mexico, an affiliate of Book View Café
Year published: original 2014, my edition 2014
ISBN number: 978-1611383843
Topics: Civil War, fictionalized account of the life of a woman joining the army as a man.
Reason for reading: Got it in exchange for a review at Librarything.com
Recommended: If it sounds interesting to you.

Back cover text: (from Amazon):
1861: as America erupts into civil war, Emma Edmonds is roused to such intense patriotism that she joins the Union army...as a man. Raised on a farm by a father who would have preferred a son, Emma can ride, shoot, and hunt as well as any man. She defies convention to become a soldier, an army nurse, even a spy. Dangers surround her, from enemy fire in battle to the risk of discovery by her friends, which would end in court-martial and disgrace. Always she seeks to reconcile the necessity of deception with her deeply-held values, but her greatest challenge arises when her friendship with a fellow-soldier becomes so close that she is tempted to confess the truth and risk everything for a chance at love. Based on the true adventures of Sarah Emma Edmonds, who served for two years in the 2nd Michigan Volunteers as Private Frank Thompson.

First paragraph:
Washington, D.C., 1883

Mr. Glass looked up as a tall, inelegant woman entered his office. She wore a sober black dress of modest and unfashionable cut, and a trim hat with the veil drawn over her face.
Soldier's widow, he decided. God knew Washington was overrun with them still, almost twenty years after the war.

Review:
Story:
I didn't know anything about Emma before I read this book, but it sounded interesting. It was interesting: how did she solve the problems to prevent other people from discovering she was actually a woman?
Emma also mentioned a pirate queen, whose name was Fanny. I actually thought about a "pirate queen book" I had read at the beginning of this year: "Grania, She-King of the Irish Seas" by Morgan Llywelyn. It's probably not the same pirate queen, but it does fit :)
The story follows Emma's life in the army. She doesn't really fight, but she mostly cares for the sick and wounded, and later takes care of the mail in the army. There was much more of the war visible than in the other Civil War book I was reading at the same time, "Dances with wolves" by Michael Blake. This made for an interesting contrast. Even though Emma wasn't fighting, the presence of the war was very visible.

I didn't dislike the characters, but I had the idea that I didn't really get to know them, not even Emma.

It was a book that I found really easy to put away, as it wasn't so full of suspense that I really wanted to continue reading. However, it was a very good book to read on my phone (which is where I read all my ebooks anyway), because you could easily read one or two pages while waiting for the bus (for example). It's a story that is very easy to get into again after not having read for a while.

Writing style:
It reads easily, but I didn't think the writing style was very engaging.

Conclusion:
Interesting to read, especially as it's based on a real person.

Rereadability:
I don't really think I'm going to read it again.

Related links:
-Review of"Grania, She-King of the Irish Seas" by Morgan Llywelyn
-Review of "Dances with wolves" by Michael Blake
-This review on my weblog

Great story by a gifted writer. This is the second book I have read by P.G.Nagle and I find the writing gifted. I could not stop reading until the end. This is not the book I would generally read but I have an interest in war and the Civil War. I will read this book again. ( )