"You bitch," he spat at Zahra. She responded easily, "But I'm an armed bitch."
And that is Zahra. Strong, confident, intelligent. Zahra was a spy during the war. Now she is back home in the swamps of South Carolina. She is asked to do one last job. That job is to set up shop in New Orleans as a high class brothel owner and sniff out the individuals who could be causing trouble. President Grant wants to pull the remaining Union soldiers from the South.
Archer and his family call New Orleans home. Archer's older brother had his story in Through the Storm. He and Sable do make an appearance in this one. Archer was a soldier for the Union during the war. Unbeknownst to him, he and Zahra have a history. As "The Butterfly," she rescued him from a Confederate barn during the war.
I liked the interplay between Zahra and Archer. He finally meets his match after deciding to never fall in love.
As always Beverly Jenkins books are a wonderful love story with a history lesson. She covers things that were glossed over, minimally discussed, or not taught in history class. She covers how dangerous it was to be Black in Reconstruction South. How traitors to the country got their land back and got the Freedman to sign Indenture agreements that made the slaves again in everything but name only.
Mother Jones published an excellent article this summer that talked about some of the things mentioned in this book.
And that is Zahra. Strong, confident, intelligent. Zahra was a spy during the war. Now she is back home in the swamps of South Carolina. She is asked to do one last job. That job is to set up shop in New Orleans as a high class brothel owner and sniff out the individuals who could be causing trouble. President Grant wants to pull the remaining Union soldiers from the South.
Archer and his family call New Orleans home. Archer's older brother had his story in Through the Storm. He and Sable do make an appearance in this one. Archer was a soldier for the Union during the war. Unbeknownst to him, he and Zahra have a history. As "The Butterfly," she rescued him from a Confederate barn during the war.
I liked the interplay between Zahra and Archer. He finally meets his match after deciding to never fall in love.
As always Beverly Jenkins books are a wonderful love story with a history lesson. She covers things that were glossed over, minimally discussed, or not taught in history class. She covers how dangerous it was to be Black in Reconstruction South. How traitors to the country got their land back and got the Freedman to sign Indenture agreements that made the slaves again in everything but name only.
Mother Jones published an excellent article this summer that talked about some of the things mentioned in this book.
Simply OK, not one of Beverly Jenkins best.
This book mixes a historically rich and sinfully romantic style to turn out a pageturned that just won't let you walk away
