Enemy Women: A Novel

This book was recommended by Tracy Chevalier in 'the last runaway', to get a better picture of the American Civil war period. (I am Australian!). It certainly did that! I was fascinated by the life and the hardship people and especially women and children had to endure during that time! The love story angle was perhaps a bit soft, but nevertheless gave it a nice story along side the horror! I liked the fact there were no raunchy pages and the reader had the opportunity to fill in the bits for him/herself! Good read! Not quite Chevalier, but thoroughly recommend!

I like historical fiction and this one was very good. The story moved a long well enough to make me want to keep reading. Adair is a courageous woman in spite of circumstances out of her control. After visiting Gettysburg this novel held added interest after learning how truly brutal the Civil War was. The things that happened to Adair are more believable since that visit. I strongly recommend Enemy Women.

I like historic fiction that also includes a Bibliography to authenticate parts of the story. The author, however, placed qoutes from documents at the beginning of each chapter. That didn't work for me. I found them distracting and often skipped them. The story line and characters were OK but nothing remarkable. I felt the topic very worthy but the execution flatlined for me.

The author provides a look into the devastating experiences of civil war years in Missouri. The fictional story of one woman is mixed with actual reports and journal entries.The mix is uneven but overall evokes a deeper sense of the time.

I loved the juxtaposition of historical records with the narrative. The descriptions of the Ozark landscapes were gorgeous. I learned a lot about the Civil War that I did not learn from my history text books, especially in this part of the country. However, I did think the ending was a bit contrived. I guess it was more for symbolic meaning and poetic effect than for realism.

I enjoyed every page of this book. The writing style imaginative, the story compelling, the characters believable, tied together with the ribbons of a satisfactory ending. It could have been written as poetry.

Before the story begins, the author, thinking of book clubs who may select this book as a project, gives the reader a series of “Questions for Discussion” which I found to be a distraction. When I review, I prefer to give my reaction to the story and the characters without a series of inane questions that reveal enough of the story that it came near to spoiling the reading. I ignored much of that and went right to the story, which saved the effort for me. Early on, a reader may find the absence of quotation marks problematic, but once into the second chapter, the lack of “he said” and “she said” is less of a problem. At times, I had to re-read sections to make sure i attributed certain dialogue to the indicated character. Then, there’s the story. Sprinkled in at the start of each chapter are snippets from personal correspondence, journals and newspapers, lending authenticity to the story of the shameful treating of Ozark Mountain residents, especially the women, both by the Yankees and “Rebel Bandits.” The characters are rich and colorful, the story is tragic ... but well worth the time.

This book was so beautifully, lyrically written. The excerpts of historical documents at chapter beginnings really helped provide some context of varying viewpoints. Reading this book makes one understand why there are still Southerners who hate Yankees all these years later. Wonderful, colorful characters.

Jiles love of poetry shows in her writing of prose. At a time in our history that required so much of our people, this book shows us what good stock we come from. This is not a book about "the women behind the man", this is a book about a woman alone.

One of my favorite books. Reads like poetry mixed with history. Here is a little slice of civil war history that is so unknown. Excerpts from historical documents add to the validity of her intriguing story.

It was a beautifully written story by a very good writer. I loved her prose. Beginning each chapter with an historical account of the war in Missouri was a brilliant move on the part of the author. It made it very real.

Interesting information about the civil war in southwest Missouri, but I feel that it needed a lot of editing. At least it wasn't yet another
book about plantation owners and slaves, but showed a different side of the war.

Beautifully written interwoven story of fiction and recorded history. It tells of the hardships experienced by all caught in the Civil War, particularly women, ordinary souls trying to live out their lives.

Beautifully written interwoven story of fiction and recorded history. It tells of the hardships experienced by all caught in the Civil War, particularly women, ordinary souls trying to live out their lives.

A wonderful, poetic, and gripping novel. The best I've read in a long time. Rich with beautiful language, the history of a region of the country that is not often described, and a page turner of a plot.

I ordered this book after reading another book by this author, Stormy Weather, and I wasn't disappointed. I love the depth of the main character - it's refreshing to have a woman portrayed as someone possessing such strength and resilience. I also walked away from the book with a new appreciation for how the Civil War was not only fought on the battlefields such as Gettysburg.

I don't understand how other reviewers gave this book 5 stars. After reading about one-fourth of this book, I'm done. This author needs an editor! There is no punctuation, except for periods which are randomly placed. The resulting story is not fluid, and is difficult to read. As for the story itself, I found it to be rather uninteresting, and very unbelievable. I will not read anything by this author again.
I would not recommend this book to anyone.

About three-fourths of the way through Enemy Women, the heroine Adair tells trivial, tedious stories to Lisa and Rosalie, who have taken her into their home. Adair wants them to fall asleep so she can decamp with Whiskey, her horse who was stolen and is now in the possession of these two women. This episode could serve as a metaphor for the entire novel, most of which is intolerably boring. The author tries to keep us awake with the clever literary device of dispensing with quotation marks, perhaps in hopes we will remain alert so as to identify what is dialogue and what isn't. But cheap tricks with punctuation are no substitute for a good tale well told. It does appear the author has done some admirable historical research for Enemy Women, though I must take that on faith. All in all, I wish I had used my time to re-read Gone With the Wind.

Paulette Jiles' historical-fiction novel Enemy Women is written primarily to history enthusiasts, but more specifically to Civil War enthusiasts. The book follows Adair on her journey from being taken to a prison, to escaping and finding her way home. At the prison she meets Major William Neumann who "falls in love with her" and helps her escape while he is transferred away from the prison. Adair also meets several other companions along her journey. Jiles uses a 3rd person omniscient point of view to show how both parties, Adair and Neumann, feel throughout the story. Jiles' tone seems sort of pessimistic just based on the pure fact that it takes place during the war. Even though it may be believed that true love will save her, there really isn't much reason to be hopeful. Because of this it sets a fairly dark, yet hopeful mood for the reader. As a current reader, we know how the Civil War ends, giving us an edge of having outside knowledge opposed to that of the characters. It is easy to believe that Adair will prevail, even though she does not always seem to think so herself.

Generally I was not too fond of the book itself. One thing in particular I did not like was how Jiles did not use quotations at all. It often made it hard to understand who was speaking causing me to have to constantly re-read, which is very distracting. Jiles also jumps around a lot with her writing, but also goes very slow at times. For instance, she leaps right into the story quickly concerning Adair's house being burned down in less than two chapters, so there is little to no development of who Adair was before this incident. This makes it hard for the reader to feel sad about the incident, which would normally seem to be the point of an author telling the reader something so tragic.

Also, the romance between Neumann and Adair seems very rushed and forced. There is no build up between the two. Adair goes into the prison stubborn and meets Neumann, and they seem to fall for each other for no real reason or excuse offered. Adair is his motivation and the rest of his journey is tied to her, which lacks logic because of their limited romantic interaction. It is similar to a Romeo and Juliet type relationship because the story plays out as an anti-romance, while she intends it to be a romantic one. It especially seems this way because Adair is caught in the middle of so many different parts of the war and events.

To improve her story, Jiles could focus more on Adair and Neumann than on the war. It is hard to tell if Jiles wants a love or war story. If she wants to focus on the war, then drop the romanticism, and vice versa. If it were truly a romantic story Adair would be searching to find Neumann instead of attempting to return home. Jiles would've arranged the plot to where Adair's objective should be getting to Neumann opposed to getting home. Overall, Jiles did not do a horrible job but there are many flaws in her creation.

Mitchell Brooks
6th period Odom

Some of the hardships of Southern women during and following the Civil War are skillfully documented in this book. Although I had heard of atrocities committed on the Southern population, the cruelties and privations come to life in this read. Parts of the South that had very little to do with the actual conflict were victimized to an outrageous degree. Though this book provides a small vignette of the events of the time, it gave me a great deal of empathy for the people of the South. Much of the population had no involvement with the war but was nearly destroyed by the wave of violence in its wake.

I have read mostly historical books about the Civil War. This novel had the unique approach of beginning each chapter with historical excerpts. The novel put a very personal view on collateral damages of was especially to women & families. Very well written. Also, very sad.

I was impressed with the depth of research as well as the quality of writing. This book was very engaging as well as providing a very real picture of what the Civil War was like for a young women in an area like Missouri, a divided state during the war.

The story-line of this book is fascinating and thought-provoking and the writing is strong and intriguing, even though the material covered breaks the reader's heart. I certainly had no idea how deeply the people of Missouri had experienced the Civil War, and it was an interesting introduction to an era that bears further investigation.

After reading
Another book,this book was a suggested"might like" What a rare gem, the writing, the story ,itself and the historical roots.,made this book a worthwhile experience. This is not for the faint of heart but those who appreciate and know that the struggles of early Americans were based on resilience courage and bravery. They have met and survived the unbelievable. Horrors and cruelties that humans can inflict on anything that crosses their path. I look forward to reading the other book by PauletteJiles.

I was looking forward to reading this author since our local bookstore had mentioned the author would be there with her new book. I thought I would try one of her other books before jumping in to an author signing. I could not get interested in the content. I tried twice and stopped reading. I am only sorry it is the kindle edition and I can't donate it to The Friends Of The Library. I never found out who the enemy women were, just the enemy author.

In Enemy Women, Paulette Jiles extracts readers, generally young adults, from the comforts of their homes to the Ozark Mountains amid the frenzy of the American Civil War. This book is a historical fiction novel that tells the story of the struggles of a young woman from Missouri. The eighteen year old female protagonist Adair Colley watches as her world is torn apart by the war around her. Her father is arrested by the Union Militia, her house and properties are set aflame, and her crippled brother is forced to join the Confederate Army. Displaced by the war, Adair is falsely accused of spying. She is sent to a woman’s prison in St. Louis, where she meets Major William Neumann. The two falls in love, but Adair is once again separated from her loved one by the war. She escapes out of the prison, only to land in the fire. Adair’s trek home is full of death, deception, illness, and terror. Most of Major Neumann survives the Battle of Mobile, and he heads toward the Ozarks in the search for his young lover.
Overall, I enjoy reading this novel. Only certain aspects of the book throw me off. I understand the lack of quotation marks is Jiles’s writing style, but it did break my concentration every now and then. It also contains graphic descriptions and mature content not suited for young readers, but it is appropriate because it shows the Civil War’s destructive nature. Although I applaud Adair’s courage, determination, and independence, I cannot connect with her because of her attitude. This novel has great suspense and emotions. I can actually feel the terror, anger, and sadness of the characters. The general mood is that of sympathy for Adair and the victims of the war and anger toward the soldiers wreaking havoc in the region. The serious tone tells of the deaths, devastation, and chaos of the conflict. Jiles successfully delivers a fresh perspective to the era by telling the story from the eyes of a young woman. The author’s extensive research of the historical facts of the time period results in a fictional story rooted in brutal reality. Personally, I would have preferred the ending of the story to be different. Even though there is nothing wrong with the cliché happy ending where the two lovers reunite, Adair should have followed Jessie Hyssop’s advice and left William Neumann after spotting him from the ridge. She should then search for her sisters and brother.