Mrs. Lee and Mrs. Gray ~ Dorothy Love

This story follows the friendship of a General's wife, and a young girl born into slavery in the Civil War south.    Spanning a wide range of history and covering many aspects of civil and political unrest, this story touches on what it meant to be a woman at the start of the Civil War, as well as, the risks to having an opinion of one's own, regardless of skin color.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and fell in love with the characters.  Told in the viewpoint of Mary, granddaughter to Martha Washington and heiress to the Washington estate, Arlington, and in the voice of Selina, a young girl taught to read and write by Mary and her mother, who yearns for freedom, knowing that it comes at the cost of what she has known of life at Arlington.  This bittersweet yearning, gives the book a tremendous ability to reach its readers.

 Adding to this already enjoyable experience, the author's notes at the end, along with the list of references provide information about which elements are factual throughout the story.   This author appears to have put an appreciable amount of research into this book and it shows in the strong response this book is able to evoke.

This book was received as an ARC digital edition through NetGalley in return for a fair and honest review.