North and South by John Jakes
“Perhaps—the insight came suddenly—perhaps love existed in its truest, deepest form when one partner saw into the soul of the other and never shrank from what was discovered there.”
This is a thrilling story of two families, one from the South and one from the North, who become friends as the two primary characters meet while students at West Point. Their experiences at school and their attitudes about slavery interact to paint a picture of how the Civil War came about. The story flows through successive generations as the families try to maintain their friendship despite the differences in beliefs.
This is a great story. Author John Jakes does a tremendous job of transporting the reader into the period immediately before the Civil War. The country was torn by political strife that could not be resolved by the ordinary institutions of civil government, and Jakes does a masterful job of explaining this within the format of a novel and showing how this atmosphere affected ordinary people, and their friendships and relationships. The Hazards and the Mains are unforgettable. Jakes shows how decent people interacted with the institution of slavery on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line. One of the best parts of the novel deals with the period during the 1840s when the two main protagonists are classmates together at West Point.
This is a well-researched tale that is very insightful as regards life and strife at the military academy during a pivotal period of American history.
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