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New Moon Rising is the second book in Eugenia Price’s St. Simons series. Set on St. Simons Island, Georgia, in the years leading up to the Civil War, this richly detailed and well-researched novel brings to life the culture, customs and life of the antebellum South. Price was meticulous in her research so the reader can be assured of the accuracy of the novel. My book club leaves tomorrow on a field trip to St. Simons. We are looking forward to seeing all the places we have read about.

New Moon Rising focuses on Horace Gould, the son of James Gould, the builder of the original St. Simons lighthouse. A restless younger son, Horace struggles with finding his place in the world. After years away from the island, he finally comes home and takes his place in the planter’s society. Horace is an interesting character. He is hard-working and sensitive. At the age of 30 he marries a woman half his age to whom he is devoted. His world is one of compromise and contradictions. He runs and then finally owns the family plantation, Blank Banks, and while he hates slavery, he cannot find a way to break with the plantation system. He also firmly believed in the unity of the United States, but fought on the side of the confederacy. His struggle with right and wrong and acting on those principles follows him all of his adult life.

Price wrote this book in a time when books with strong faith messages were published by secular houses. There really was no Christian fiction genre. Price never waters down her beliefs — her faith is seamlessly woven into her stories. Harold Gould was a man who believed in doing things in his own way and in his own strength. In the end, Price depicts him as finally giving control to God.

I enjoyed New Moon Rising. If you like historical fiction, I think you will too.

Recommended.

Audience: older teens to adults.

(I purchased this book for my Kindle. All opinions expressed are mine alone.) ( )

St. Simon's Trilogy, Volume 2