04 Jun Book Review The Lost Women of Mill Street Kinley Bryan #HistoricalFiction #WomenInHistory #AmericanCivilWar #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub @kinleybauthor @cathiedunn

FEATURED AUTHOR: KINLEY BRYAN

I am delighted to host Kinley Bryan as the featured author in The Coffee Pot Book Club Blog Tour, held between May 14th –  June 4th, 2024. Kinley Bryan is the author of the Historical Fiction, The Lost Women of Mill Street, released by Blue Mug Press on May 7, 2024 (300 pages).

Below are highlights of The Lost Women of Mill Street, Kinley Bryan’s author bio, and book review.

Tour Schedule Page: https://thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/2024/03/blog-tour-the-lost-women-of-mill-street-by-kinley-bryan.html

HIGHLIGHTS: THE LOST WOMEN OF MILL STREET

The Lost Women of Mill Street
by Kinley Bryan

Blurb:

1864: As Sherman’s army marches toward Atlanta, a cotton mill commandeered by the Confederacy lies in its path. Inside the mill, Clara Douglas weaves cloth and watches over her sister Kitty, waiting for the day her fiancé returns from the West.

When Sherman’s troops destroy the mill, Clara’s plans to start a new life in Nebraska are threatened. The millworkers are branded as traitors and exiled to a desolate refugee prison hundreds of miles from home. Clara and Kitty hold no sympathy for the Confederacy; nevertheless, they must leave behind everything they’ve ever known.

Clara clings to hope while grappling with doubts about her fiancé’s ambitions and the unsettling truths surrounding his absence. As the days pass, the sisters find themselves thrust onto the foreign streets of Cincinnati, a city teeming with uncertainty and strife. She must summon reserves of courage, ingenuity, and strength she didn’t know she had if they are to survive in an unfamiliar, unwelcoming land.

Inspired by true events of the Civil War, The Lost Women of Mill Street is a vividly drawn novel about the bonds of sisterhood, the strength of women, and the repercussions of war on individual lives.

Buy Link:

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/lostwomenofmillstreet

AUTHOR BIO: KINLEY BRYAN

Kinley Bryan’s debut novel, Sisters of the Sweetwater Fury, inspired by the Great Lakes Storm of 1913 and her own family history, won the 2022 Publishers Weekly Selfies Award for adult fiction. An Ohio native, she lives in South Carolina with her husband and three children. The Lost Women of Mill Street is her second novel.

Author Links:

Website: https://kinleybryan.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kinleybauthor

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KinleyBryanWrites

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kinleybryanauthor/

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/kinley-bryan

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Kinley-Bryan/author/B09J5GWDLX

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21892910.Kinley_Bryan

BOOK REVIEW: THE LOST WOMEN OF MILL STREET

Set in the later stages of the American Civil War, The Lost Women of Mill Street by Kinley Bryan is a coming-of-age tale about Clara Douglas and her younger sister Kitty, caught in the firestorm of General Sherman’s march to Atlanta. Orphaned as teenagers, Clara and Kitty struggle to survive the harsh working conditions of weaving on industrial looms in Roswell, Georgia. Clara clings to the hope that her fiancée will return and take her to Nebraska to homestead. Compounding their problems is the overseer’s unwanted attention on Kitty. He is mysteriously found drowned in a creek after the Union Army burns the city and then the mill to the ground. Some suspect Clara of his murder as Union forces round up all the mill workers and take them on an arduous trip north to Cincinnati. Clara and Kitty must find ways to support themselves in a city where they are considered traitors. They must draw on their ingenuity and resilience to survive.

Author Kinley Bryan has written a memorable story of how two women rise above their desperate situation to find their true pathway on life’s journey. It is based on a historical event in 1864 when mill workers, mostly women and children, were arrested and sent north by Federal forces. The fate of most remains a mystery.

Told from the perspective of Clara, The Lost Women of Mill Street is a coming-of-age story about two sisters who support each other as they find careers for which they are passionate. Their relationship is sometimes contentious, but their overriding loyalty and love for each other give them strength to overcome self-doubt and wartime obstacles.

Young modern-day women figuring out where they belong in their world will relate to Clara and Kitty. Descriptions of the devastation of war-torn areas are vivid but not too graphic. An element of romance is woven into the storyline, but the overarching theme is sisterhood and finding yourself. It is an uplifting story suitable for young adults. However, the unexpected twist in the climax did not work well for me, but others may feel otherwise.

The Lost Women of Mill Street is suggested for those who enjoy reading uplifting, historical stories about two young women supporting each other and rising to overcome unfortunate circumstances.

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