Heaven and Hell

I recently finished reading Heaven and Hell, the last novel in a Civil War era trilogy by John Jakes. Like the first two books, this was an enjoyable read. The main character is Charles Main, who, after being truamatized by his experiences in the war, moves west in the hopes of continuing life in the military. This is a problem, though, as certain people do not want a former rebel (or traitor, as they say) serving with them. Charles joins a small trading company, but that quickly ends when his partner is massacred by Indians. He becomes very vengeful and is eventually able to join the army under Custer to fight the Indians. However, after a merciless slaughter of Indian women and children, he has a change of heart and quits. He falls in love with an actress named Willa, whom he met while he was passing through St. Louis. Willa is an ardent supporter of making peace with the Indians, so she and Charles have quite a few quarrels about him wanting to kill them. Of course, there is a happy ending.

The Hazard family is in the background in this book. Billy & Brett have moved to California and only make a brief appearance at the end. Constance is murdered by the villain Elkanah Bent, and a devastated George withdraws from everyone and moves to Europe. Incidentally, Bent's exploits get a lot of coverage. He wants revenge on the Hazards and Mains and has no qualms about killing innocent people to help his quest. Charles has a young son named Gus, whose mother died after giving birth, and Bent kidnaps the boy and takes him into Indian Territory. Charles finally finds them and executes Bent.

Orry's widow Madeline remains in South Carolina and attempts to start a school for blacks. This is very unpopular, of course, and she receives more than one visit from the KKK, which was just getting started at that time. Madeline keeps a journal, written as if it were a letter to Orry, which lets the reader know her thoughts and experiences. I found the portrayal of the Reconstruction-era South to be very interesting. Unlike wars between two countries, where the victor occupies and rules his enemy, the Civil War had no real "loser" since the South became the USA once again. So trying to enforce equal rights for whites and blacks was a nightmare.

Obviously I give Heaven and Hell an overwhelmingly positive review. I love historical fiction, especially that which deals with the Civil War or WWII, and this book (the whole trilogy, actually) never had me bored.