Sister of Mine: A Novel

I love Civil War History! Slave and Sister is well researched and interesting. It reveals the reality of slavery and the hoplessness of girls born on the plantation to slave mothers. It is an interesting tale that kept me up reading into the night. I recommend it to the serious reader. It is well written. Enjoy!!!

I learned a number of things about Jews and Sherman's march through the South, not realizing any property at all was left in tact. I do hope that part of the story is true. I found the reading level to be quite simplistic but this would be a good book to give middle and high school students a broader picture of the civil war.

This is a great book, I highly recommended it. Although this is a fiction book it had a lot of facts about slaves and Jewish people. The whole story line was about real life actions of that era. I really enjoyed this book.

"Slave and Sister" by Sabra Waldfogel was an excellent novel set in the era of the Civil War. Girls who knew they were half sisters but still had the relationship of slave and master, and how the emancipation proclamation changed that relationship and made it stronger in the end.

This story took a different approach to children born into slavery . Adelaide and Rachel were sisters but separated by slavery. Slavery is a very difficult topic to read about, but the author did a good job.

Overall Slave and Sister is ok. I was impressed by the historical accuracies in references to Georgia.
What was lacking: a second (or third) editor to correct grammatical errors. There were a good number of them and it was distracting. Next some times - especially in the middle - it became a romance novel. Lastly, sometimes the writing style switched points of view without a clear transition so I would have to re-read to make sure who's view reading from.

I deeply enjoyed reading this book! The author weaved the interrelated lives of the slave owners and, the slaves themselves,effortlessly and believably together. An incitetful look at some of the true feelings between sisters that were born into totally different roles within the war time culture of the South!

If you like Antebellum fiction, this book is excellent. A great story of 2 sisters and their uniquely different, yet intertwined lives. For me, this book kept me interested all the way through til the end. I was sorry when I finished it. I wanted to read more of their story. Would be great if there was a sequel!

For a first novel, Sabra Waldfogel wrote a wonderful story. It is a story of two sisters, one white and one black during the Civil War. They come to terms with their relationship. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes historical novels.

This is a wonderful story and very well written. I was tempted to rate no violence and no sexual content because both are more alluded to than actually spelled out. I really enjoyed the book and was sorry when it ended.

This book evoked serious thought and had me warring with myself. Stop reading now if you do not want to read my brief synopsis. I promise not to give away the very end. Adelaide (the white, Jewish mistress) and Rachel (her slave) are half sisters and have a very complicated relationship. They love each other on some level and are covertly protective of one another, but there is a definite line between mistress and slave. Adelaide breaks off an engagement from a man who has a reputation of forcing himself on his slave girls. Adelaide finds him trying to force himself on her sister. During this time in American history, pre-civil war, it was taboo for the female to break off an engagement and almost always resulted in spinsterhood. After some time passed, Adelaide's father, a shrewd plantation owner and businessman, finds a match for his daughter, but makes the groom indebted to him by financing his small plantation. Henry, Adelaide's new husband, is a very kind man who does not see himself above the slaves that he now owns. He works hard and he honors everyone he comes in contact with....including and especially his slaves. This makes the slaves love him. He makes a real attempt to care/love his wife, but she is so jaded by her first fiancé, that she does not trust. Rachel is leary of all masters but she is kind to him and they come together to care for Adelaide (for months after she becomes ill giving birth) and in business (Rachel can read and her father inadvertently taught her to be as shrewd as he in business). Henry and Rachel reluctantly fall in love. Once Adelaide recovers and discovers their love, she manipulates her father to force him to fight in the civil war. Rachel and Henry really love one another and can't marry but they pledge their lives to one another. Henry writes Rachel every day that he can....which is a lot in the very beginning. At this point, Rachel, who has a head for business, runs the plantation and makes it prosperous with her fathers' help. This is the point that slave becomes more valuable and revered than mistress. Read the book for the rest of the story. It is quite compelling and will make you believe in true love against impossible circumstances.

I must say that I warred with myself as a black woman, as a wife, and as a sister. As a black woman, it is difficult to read about slavery. It is always assumed that the masters of the plantation always took advantage of the slave girls. This happened more often than not, but this book clearly illustrates that in some cases love truly abounds. This example is evident in my own family history where my great grandmother (whose mother was not a slave) was left as much land in Eastern North Carolina after the death of her white father as her white siblings. I don't know the story there and everything is so hush hush but after reading this book, it has prompted me to start asking questions. As a wife, the love between Henry and Rachel is hard to read because it is a betrayal. For it to happen right on the same land with a half sister is an even harder pill to swallow. As a younger sister to 5 siblings, I could not imagine the pain that Rachel caused even though I wanted true love to win out over every possible obstruction. Any book that makes you think from so many perspectives and even inspires action on behalf of the reader, is worth the time and effort. I applaud this writer especially as this is her first novel. I look forward to reading more from her.

Fast read could not put it down. Different perspective on the south and slavery I never thought about. Jews in the south. Perhaps the ending is to story book with good winning over evil, but that is OK still loved the story.

The story kept me interested till the end. Loved all the details of life from that period. Well written, at times quite graphic, but appropriately so. The characters were very realistic. All in all, a great book.

The type of writing that satisfies the itch to read. Sabra Waldfogel did a wonderful job of showing how all the characters were trapped in a form of slavery. The plot was intricate, captivating until the last page.

Loved this book! I am a fan of history, particularly Southern History. This author, Sabra Waldfogel, gave a practical 360 degree view of all parties impacted by Slavery in America. While somewhat romantic, this is no fairy tale.

Sounds like what could have happened in my family's tree, except that the bloodline would have been of the Scots- Irish culture and not Jew. To be Sabra's first novel, I think it is award worthy. Thank you, Sabra.

exceptionally well written with an authentic heart wrenching, captivating story line. The characters are so real with the strengths and weaknesses of any / all humans. The type of story to make me question "really, how would I have behaved in the slave holding south?" Tears of sorrow, tears of joy all the way to the last page.
Only one glaring inaccuracy in the descriptive prose that I noted showing this author has never lived a full year round in the south, was a description of live oak leaves turning brown in the fall ... never happens. Even wAter oak trees don't turn brown and fall until January. Live oaks never really turn brown - the leaves are pushed off (and they are brown on the ground) in the eArly spring (March in my neck of the woods) and replaced by soft green new growth all at once with golden brown strings of pollen hanging everywhere.

If you're a reader of American history novels, this new author will certainly suit! I look forward to more from this author who has enthralled me with her debut following the civil war from an unusual aspect.