Title: Unique blend of local history with tale of indefatigable Elsa
Product review: This novel, set in the period just before and after the Civil War, relates historical events of the time -- the Union occupation of Beaufort and Port Royal, the battle of Honey Hill -- accurately and interestingly, but these serve merely as a shifting background for the rise of Elsa, born a slave on Spring Island (SC), whose wit, resourcefulness, and grit are the real story. Elsa sees opportunity on every side (finding the ideal husband is one such opportunity), and outwits her sharp white competitors in the booming cotton business. She then returns to Spring Island (a real place described with love by the author, who lives there) and celebrates her final triumph -- to say more would give the story away! Humorous, instructive, this is a page turner.
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