B.J. Robinson tell us that she found nostalgic inspiration when she toured Southern plantation mansions and learned of their history, particularly during the Civil War.
In this first novel that uses a dual story line, one story revolves around the days at River Oaks Plantation shortly before and after the Civil War while another features River Oaks and the region during and after Hurricane Katrina. A foundation family is linked to a great-granddaughter (Camila) and her family through a diary kept by the great grandmother (Margaret) from the day she came to River Oaks as a bride, recording her loves, tragedies and fears through her life. When Cammie, the great-granddaughter, returns to River Oak to claim her inheritance, she finds the diary. She determinedly takes it with her when she evacuates barely ahead of Hurricane Katrina.
As the story revolves between blessings, tragedy and conflict among the people who love River Oaks within two eras, the mansion endures storms, flooding and war while the people see their faith connected over the generations. Built for the ages, the repairs after Hurricane Katrina find solid boards in the walls behind the saturated sheetrock used to ‘remodel’ over time.
A clean story with no profanity or erotica, this story is a Christian based pleasure read that will appeal to people who have to read in short spurts because of busy schedules. No matter how ‘suffering conditioned’ people become, the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina and other weather action, plus the trauma of the Civil War will always have some documentation in River Oaks Plantation, a sensitive, sympathetic format that is about the real people and not just some dry factual data.
I was awarded a copy of the book through a contest held by the Author on social media. I was not required to leave a review. I think that several age groups could appreciate the story.