A Voice for Independent Authors

“You can kill a book quicker by your silence than by a bad review.”
― E.A. Bucchianeri

REVIEWING TODAY: IN A TIME NEVER KNOWN BY KAT MICHELS

In A Time Never Known by Kat Michels actually takes place in a most familiar time of American history: The Civil War. Perhaps less well known, however, is the view of that critical time as experienced and endured by the women of the era. Ms. Michels rectifies this situation with her marvelously engaging war-time drama – told mostly from a feminine perspective – about women spies, mothers and daughters, slaves and owners, and friends and enemies. Fortunately, for the full pleasure and interest of the reader, the men in this book are neither marginalized nor stereotyped. Rather, the focus is centered mostly on the unheralded contributions of women to our nation’s cause, and more, on the particular strengths shown by these various women in times of crisis. Their relationships with men are both nuanced, varied, and integral to the story.

Lest it sound like In A Time Never Known by Kat Michels is an academic study about women in war, it should be noted that the greatest strength of Ms. Michels’ book lies in its superb plotting, in a cast of distinctly different and thoroughly believable characters, and finally, in a story extremely well told. Ms. Michels’ writing never lags, is highly polished, and at heart is vastly entertaining. Anna – a southern mother who reluctantly conscripts her naïve and manipulative daughter into spying for the Union – is the remarkable centerpiece of this novel. Although she eventually gives way to the grander exploits of her daughter, she remains central to the embedded viewpoint of this excellent book: Women have an equal role in history, and the strength to move it forward for the better. All told in a story sure to entertain the adventure-minded reader.