Across the River
Across the River by Richard Snodgrass, published by Calling Crow Press in 2019, is a historical fiction novel set during the summer of 1863. The story follows Judson Walker, a captain of Morgan’s Raiders, and Jonathan Reid, a young engineer, as they arrive in Furnass to acquire steam-powered road engines from Colin Lyle. Their mission involves outfitting these engines with iron plating and Gatlin Guns for General Lee’s army, but complications arise as Walker becomes entangled with Lyle’s wife, Libby, and faces challenges from deserting soldiers and shifting loyalties.
Readers will find a narrative that explores themes of duty, personal conflict, and the impact of war on individual lives. As Walker grapples with his responsibilities to his men and his growing feelings for Libby, the story culminates in a dramatic confrontation involving sabotage and moral choices. The novel is part of the Books of Furnass series, which chronicles the evolution of a fictitious mill town in southwestern Pennsylvania, detailing its transformation from a frontier outpost to an industrial center amid historical events. This edition contains 340 pages and is presented in English.
Official synopsis Publisher
In the summer of 1863, Judson Walker, a captain of Morgan’s Raiders, and Jonathan Reid, a young engineer, come to Furnass to appropriate two of Colin Lyles’ steam-powered road engines. The purpose is to outfit the engines with iron plate and the newly developed Gatlin Guns, and, with Morgan, deliver the war engines to General Lee’s army in Central Pennsylvania. Amid Walker’s growing involvement with Lyle’s wife Libby, deserting soldiers, and Reid’s own agenda, Walker learns Morgan isn’t coming. The novel reaches its climax with Lyle trying to sabotage the war engines. Walker must decide between Libby and duty toward his men, the war and individual human values.
The Books of Furnass tell the story of a fictitious mill town, ten miles from Pittsburgh in southwestern Pennsylvania. At the heart of the series is the Furnass Towers Trilogy, about the efforts of men and women to maintain their lives, and the life of the town, in the face of the mill closings. In addition to contemporary life, the series chronicles the town when it was just an outpost after the French and Indian War…the town as it grew around an iron furnace in the wilderness…as it became an industrial center from the time of the American Civil War to the Vietnam War. And the series tells the story of the Lyle family, who were involved with the town from its founding to its struggles to survive after the mills went away.
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