LEIGH ANN'S CIVIL WAR by Ann Rinaldi

Ann Rinaldi has added to her amazing collection of historical fiction.  LEIGH ANN'S CIVIL WAR focuses on a family in the Conferate South battling not only the nation's Civil War, but also their own family's inner problems.

Leigh Ann has been raised by her two older brothers since she was about four years old.  Their mother who claims she was never meant to be a mother took off leaving the children with her husband.  At first he was busy running the family-owned textile mill, but then he fell ill and the responsibilities of the mill and running the family went to his sons, Teddy and Louis. 

Now that the war has begun responsibility has increased yet again.  The two brothers head off to battle, but soon return when one is injured and the other is needed to keep the family business from falling into northern hands. 

Being the youngest, Leigh Ann has escaped a lot of the family tension, but as the Yankees get closer and closer to their plantation, family turmoil escalates.  With her father now unable to take care of even his own personal needs, papers have been filed declaring her oldest brother Teddy to be her legal guardian, however, her mother sees it as an opportunity to step back into the family lay claim to whatever she can. 

With the Civil War as the backdrop for the story, readers are able to watch history unfold as well as what happens within Leigh Ann's family.  An older sister is secretly married while visiting her soldier boyfriend, and she returns pregnant.  Tension increases in older brother Teddy's marriage as he spends more and more time keeping the mill running.  Despite a crippling war injury, Louis is elected mayor and takes on the responsibility of running the town.  All the while Leigh Ann tries to behave as a good southern girl should, but her desire to help her family often causes her to step beyond the boundaries set by her brothers. 

In this new release Ann Rinaldi highlights the South's struggle to hang on to their way of life as war crept closer and after the Yankees took control.  She artful reveals this one family and its efforts to survive and protect their own during dangerous times.