The Shiloh Legacy: World War I Veterans 10 Years Later

Bodie Thoene’s Shiloh Legacy series includes two more books after the great beginning of In My Father’s House. The next two books, A Thousand Shall Fall and Say to This Mountain, are written as a double-novel, one continuous story that takes place ten years after the first book’s end. Through these two books, we explore the world of America in the last half of 1929 – the Stock Market Crash and the beginning of the Great Depression.

A Thousand Shall Fall sets the scene in the last two months before the crash, a snapshot of life during the crazy days of the booming Wall Street right before its collapse. The concluding book picks right up where the previous one left off, at the beginning of the actual stock market crash in late October, through the end of that year. As with the first book in the series, the novels again follow the lives of several World War I veterans in their lives across America – Oklahoma, Ohio, and New York City – to give a broad picture of classic American life in the late 1920s.

Of course, ten years have passed, and so new characters are introduced – especially Birch and Trudy’s young boys Tommy and Bobby, and Max Meyer’s son David. While the Tucker family portrays the idyllic rural family living out in the sticks of Shiloh, Arkansas, David Meyer is a street-wise city kid living in Philadelphia, who seeks out his father living in another big city, New York. A Thousand Shall Fall thus provides plenty of contrasts – life out on the farm, small-town gossip and racial strife, as opposed to the dark life of gangsters and the free-wheeling wealthy consumed with the Stock Market. Though the Tucker story is interesting enough, the New York plot is a much greater page-turner; Davey Meyer is an especially fascinating character, in a story somewhat reminiscent of Charles Dickens novels.

After resolving some of the suspense in A Thousand Shall Fall, the concluding book deals more with characters and their relationships. How will the Tucker family, Jefferson Canfield, and Max and his son survive the Great Depression? After wondering about the Warne family in Ohio (never mentioned in the first half of the 1929 story), we also get their view – and that of Jefferson’s family -- living in the Rubber Capitol of Akron, Ohio. This last book focuses more on personal religious faith, as Max continues to come to terms with his life – beyond just finding out about David. The black characters, mainly the various family members of Hock and Willa Mae Canfield, are also well-developed and strong in their hope in God against all the terrible circumstances they face.

Apparently many of the characters are featured in other Thoene books (Zion Covenant and Zion Chronicles), but "The Shiloh Legacy" only has brief references to characters in the "Zion Covenant" series. One line mentions Max’s "rookie reporter" John Murphy, but even more interesting is the revelation of the "D’Fat Lady" singer, as the identity of Hattie Canfield, one of Jefferson’s sisters. But several of the characters, including Ellie Warne (briefly introduced here as a 9-year-old, nicknamed "Boots"), show up in the "Zion Chronicles" series. As I read these books I could not help but consider, too, that the children of 1929 would indeed grow up to be the young adults of the World War II era. The "Shiloh Legacy" is another excellent series from Bodie Thoene, one that could easily go beyond the three books in the set.

In My Father's House: Post-World War I America

Bodie Thoene’s "Shiloh Legacy" begins with In My Father’s House. Starting near the end of World War I, In My Father’s House covers a tumultuous period of history: the horrors of the Great War, the Flu Epidemic, and then the racial violence of the post-war years.

The story follows the lives of several young soldiers in France at the war’s end – their last battles, the Armistice celebrations, welcoming home and their adjustments to post-war life. The story at first includes Max Meyer and his affair with a young Irish woman, but that particular plot gets to a certain point and then stops (to be resumed, apparently, in the next book in the series). In particular, In My Father’s House details the lives of Ellis Warne in Ohio, and several other characters – farmboy Birch Tucker, black soldier Jefferson Canfield, and Jewish Trudy Meyer – residing in Western Arkansas. Through the two settings – Ohio and Arkansas – we see the major issues confronting both regions, including the Ku Klux Klan’s influence in both the Jim Crow South and the politics of suburban Ohio.

The "Shiloh Legacy" series is said to include some of the characters referenced later in the Zion book series. Having read the "Zion Covenant" pre-World War II series, it was nice to meet the younger Theo Lindheim, if only briefly.

As with their other novels, the Thoenes again bring a well-researched story rich with information about the time period. The year 1919 was among the more violent in race riots, and the story makes reference to such things as the Chicago riot and the general anti-immigrant, isolationist attitude of most Americans. President Woodrow Wilson even makes a brief appearance, and characters later follow-up with the news of Wilson’s unsuccessful attempt to have the U.S. join the "League of Nations."

The one weakness is the author’s tendency – so common in modern-day historical fiction works – to project today’s politically correct ideas, especially concerning racial issues, onto the major characters of an earlier time period. At times it seems that some of the characters (especially Trudy Meyer and Birch Tucker) are mere transplants from our day, with seemingly no clue about black-white relationships in the early twentieth century. Even Doc Warne seems amazingly out of step with his contemporaries, considering the economic and social circumstances.

As the first part of a series, this first novel has a seemingly abrupt ending, one that leaves too many unresolved plot threads. The next two books in the series continue the story over the next decade. In My Father’s House is an excellent start to a trilogy about these World War I veterans and their families, in their lives after the Great War.

Zion Covenant: Vienna Prelude and Prague Counterpoint

Bodie Thoene's popular Zion book series includes the Zion Covenant series, published after the Zion Chronicles series, with a setting prior to the Chronicles. Beginning with Vienna Prelude, we experience the horrors of Nazi Germany in the late 1930s, not long before World War II. The first two books in the series vividly describe the political and social climate that allowed the Nazis to invade Austria and then Czechoslovakia.
Amidst this background is an interesting story about Elisa Lindheim, a Symphony Violionist who happens to be half-Jewish. Though she and her family are baptized Lutherans, and Elisa bears the Aryan blonde traits from her mother's side, she has no rights in the Nazi belief system. Elisa's friend Leah, concert celloist and full Jew, lacks false identity papers and is at even more risk.

Vienna Prelude vividly describes life in Austria immediately before the Nazi invasion, complete with the details of that takeover and the seemingly shocking apathy of Europe. Prague Counterpoint immediately follows, with the early days of Austrian occupation, streams of refugees fleeing into Czechoslovakia, and Hitler's scheming to conquer that nation (which would fall several months after Prague Counterpoint ends).

Other characters include Elisa's Jewish father Theo Lindheim. Also, Elisa's old boyfriend-turned-Nazi Thomas Von Kleistman, contrasted with a daring young American reporter, John Murphy, provide a background love interest. A rural Austrian family illustrates the tension experienced even within families, the division brought by Hitler, that would set a son against his brother and his parents. Yet perhaps there is hope for Otto Wattenbarger, the Nazi son who appears more prominently in the second book.

Several historical figures from the time have minor roles, especially the then-out-of-favor, banished Winston Churchill. Yet even American celebrities Charles Lindbergh and Clark Gable have guest appearances, for a greater, international view of the times.

These two books provide exciting adventures which make the historical period even more interesting, while providing great details of historical research. Prague Counterpoint also addresses the "old-news" story (having begun in Germany even before 1938) of the persecuted church in Germany, the Nazi efforts to remove Jewishness from the state church, even their plans to sterilize imperfect adults and kill defective children.

Of Men and Of Angels: Ireland of the 1840s

Of Men and Of Angels, the second book in Bodie and Brock Thoene's Galway Chronicles series, continues the story of Ireland's tenant farmers in the early 1840s, a time of conflict between the ruling English and the subjugated Irish. The first book, Only the River Runs Free, introduces the people of Ballynockanor, Galway County, Ireland, and especially the Donovan family. Joseph Connor Burke, the true heir to the Burke land estates, was believed dead at the hands of his wicked Uncle Marlowe, who killed Joseph's father and usurped his power. But in 1842 he returns to his home of Ballynockanor, and by the end of Only the River Runs Free has been established as the rightful heir. Now, with a more benevolent landowner, the people of Ballynockanor have a better year in store for them. Or so they think.

But as this second book unfolds, 1843 has just as many problems of its own, another year with its own sorrows and troubles. The story picks up immediately where Only the River Runs Free ended; the Galway Chronicles should definitely be read in sequence to more readily understand the story and characters. Kevin Donovan is about to leave for America -- his punishment for his actions against the Marlowes in the previous book. All of Ballynockanor gathers for Kevin's American Wake, a great goodbye celebration. Anyone going to far away America might as well be dying, since nobody expects to ever see him again.

Kevin soon leaves, and life goes on for the rest of the community. Joseph reduces the rent and allows payment at a pavilion on the Burke estate, a friendlier atmosphere than Marlowe's. He starts up his school for the Irish children -- sparing them the terrible English National School -- in his mansion, and even hires Mad Molly as one of his servants. A wet nurse tends Bridget's infant son, Tomeen, now Joseph's child, and the gossip around town is that Joseph really is little Tom's father.

Historical figure Daniel O'Connell (1775 - 1847), an Irish politician, takes a more prominent role in this story, as the "Great Liberator" presses for Repeal of the Union with England. By the hundreds of thousands, the Irish tenants from all over Ireland gather at rallies, to hear O'Connell proclaim freedom. Over 40 such "monster" rallies in fact took place in 1843, including the Tara rally featured in the story, and many such rallies brought in crowds over 100,000. As also featured in this story, when the British troops came out to oppose the gathering at Clontarf that October, O'Connell, pledged to non-violence, acquiesced and sent the people home.

Yet opposition comes from the English ruling class, who would love to see an "Ireland without the Irish." Spies infiltrate O'Connell's campaign, trying to push the Repeal Movement to violence so as to charge O'Connell with sedition and treason. Joseph, too, as a supporter of Repeal, finds himself targeted and narrowly escapes death many times. Can he trust even his own servants in his household?

Of Men and Of Angels, like the first book, also portrays the lives of ordinary Irish Catholic peasants. They are indeed poor, uneducated, and very superstitious. From this story we learn that bread made from flour and ground-up, pulverized frogs, was thought to ward off the fever on a long sea voyage. Also, possession of a newborn baby's caul would prevent drowning.

Interesting facts about the dreaded smallpox are brought out as well. Though smallpox vaccination had been around for about 40 years, only the wealthy and educated had received the inoculation. Dairy farmers never caught smallpox because they contracted cowpox, a lesser form of the related disease. Thus, as Edward Jenner had discovered years earlier and the Ballynockanor people learn from a Tinker (O'Neill), infection with cowpox saves people from catching the deadlier smallpox.

Understood by the characters is the long history of Ireland: the 800 plus years since King Brian was killed, also the long reign of the Burke family. The book's prologue describes the fateful day in early Ireland, the year 1014, when King Brian Boru, son and grandson were slain in battle against the Vikings, betrayed by a man named O'Toole. Mad Molly in particular treasures the old stories, often confusing the present day people and places with those of long ago. Yet through her madness she demonstrates knowledge of spiritual things unseen by the others: of the presence of angels, even the nature of other men, as to whether they be good or evil. Molly and the others of Ballynockanor are all part of the Irish heritage, and this story provides an exciting story of ordinary people in troubled times.

Only the River Runs Free: A Story from 1840s Ireland

Only the River Runs Free, the first book in Bodie and Brock Thoene's "The Galway Chronicles" Series, tells the plight of the peasant Irish Catholic tenant farmers of Ireland, struggling under the English protestant landlords that rule their country. It is a bleak time indeed, in which the English own the land, the schools and the government, making their living off the exorbitant tithes and taxes they eke out of the poor farmers. From the time of England's Great Empire, which included control over South Africa and Australia as well as Ireland, and a time contemporary with Charles Dickens' novels, comes a wonderful tale of ordinary people living in a land where, as the saying goes, "only the river runs free." Yet Ireland of the 1840s is not that far gone: the Galway Chronicles explain much of the underlying problems still rampant in Ireland today, and the reasons for the immigration of so many Irish to the United States during this time.

The story begins in 1827, when wicked Marlowe poisons his brother-in-law, "the Burke", and attempts to kill Burke's only heir, eight-year-old Connor Burke. Thus acquiring the Burke's estate, Uncle Marlowe and his son William begin their reign of oppression over the poor Irish farmers of Ballynockanor, Galway County. John Stone and Constable Carroll, the Marlowes' friends, are equally wicked, men who will readily give false testimony or rape any woman caught outside after curfew.

Thought to have died beneath the ice, Connor Burke has lived in exile for fifteen years when he quietly returns to his homeland on Christmas Eve, 1841, as the unassuming Joseph Connor. Studying in preparation for the Catholic priesthood, Joseph boards with Father O'Bannon and gets to know the people of Ballynockanor. Only Molly Fahey (formerly Burke's servant), now "Mad Molly," holds the key to the truth, including Connor's legal rights. But the tragedy also took her sanity. Yet she had prophesied that a miracle would come to Ballynockanor that day; could the arrival of Joseph Connor be that miracle?

The Donovan family of Ballynockanor has seen its share of tragedy by the time they meet Joseph. Mother has died, and eldest daughter Kate, at 23, is already dead in her spirit, waiting to join her husband and child taken in the fire that left much of her body permanently scarred. Da (Tom Donovan) also weeps for Kate, wallowing much of the time in the drink.

The rest of the family, including Kevin (age 18), Bridget (15), Martin (11), and Mary Elizabeth (age 6), do their part as well as they can, going about their daily school and/or work activities. Even the children face persecution, as they daily endure the English National School, the hated place that indoctrinates Irish children with shame for their heritage while extolling the great English. Thus an economics class, though teaching the concept of value and what makes something valuable, carefully avoids the topic of land and its worth. Students must say "I am a happy English child" and punishment involves reciting 100 times "a child of the dust must not be proud."

The family must stick together for their very survival, cooperating with the authorities and allowing all injustices, lest they lose their homes and livelihood. For English law also decrees that all family members must bear the punishment for the wrongdoings of one of their own. When an Irish Catholic son is party to violence against the English Protestants, he is sent to the prison in New South Wales; his family's home is promptly leveled to the ground, every brick of the foundation uprooted. Such families, allowed to sell the lumber that remains, typically use that money to buy passage to the United States.

Ribbonmen roam the countryside, causing general mischief such as branding cattle and robbing the landowners, trying to violently overthrow the oppressive landlords. Joseph Connor urges a peaceful resolution through Repeal (laws to protect tenants' rights and prevent unfair rents). Yet it seems to Joseph that in everything he fails. When he should warn, he fails to do so; and when he seeks peace, others call him a traitor. He loves Kate, yet Kate's heart is cold and dead to love; she will not let any man love her. Finally, when the wayward Bridget Donovan, with her lofty ambitions and self-interest, becomes the family prodigal child, Joseph vows to do all he can to bring her home, praying he will not fail in this as well.

A Gold Medallion Book Award winner (1998), Only the River Runs Free is a heartwarming story, the first in the Galway Chronicles series about the ordinary people of Ireland in the 1840s and their dream to be free from England's rule. The characters and the town itself come alive through the many splendid details of daily life with the Donovan family.