AustLit

Romance of the South during the Civil War, narrated by the Quaker heroine's sister. An engagement is broken at the beginning of the war when the Quaker-educated heroine is unable to enthuse over her fiancee's enlistment. He becomes engaged instead to his ambitious cousin but when he loses a leg she abandons him in hospital for a rising rival. His first love nurses him in hospital and they are eventually married, he with a new respect for her values. Calmly crafted tale - unusual theme of restrained religious anti-militarism. (PB)