Return to Shirley Plantation

A Civil War Romance

By: Carrie Fancett Pagels

Narrated by: Cecily White

Length: 2 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

Abducted against his will, theater manager Matthew Scott is conscripted into the Confederate army because of his Copperhead senator father’s political leanings. Injured at Malvern Hill, Matthew is taken by the Union army to Shirley Plantation in Virginia, where he is tended by seamstress Angelina Rose, a freed slave. 

Given an opportunity to leave the South and start a new life for herself, Angelina remained for the sake of her sister’s orphaned twins, who are still enslaved. 

Matthew must use his acting skills to to remain safe. Will his return to Shirley Plantation settle a mystery concerning his father’s past? And will Matthew find the family for which he longs?

©2013 Carrie Fancett Pagels (P)2018 Carrie Fancett Pagels

Inspirational Civil War Romantic Drama

Angelina gave up moving north to stay in the south to care for her niece and nephew, saving money to buy their freedom. Matthew Scott was conscripted into serving in a war he wanted nothing to do with. I loved how Matthew developed relationships with other characters. The way he was drawn to Angelina and felt protective of her was simply romantic. Angelina was my favorite. She showed such strength in following God's guidance. Granny Scott is full of surprises.

The narration was excellent! I thought Cecily White did a wonderful job bringing all characters and their different accents to life.
I highly recommend this audiobook. Despite the horribleness of the war and dealing with the wounded literally on their front lawn, the story is entertaining and a quick listen.

Outstanding!

I loved this story and the fact that it is set at a real plantation with people who lives there made the story that much more fun. Ms. Pagels did a beautiful job of bringing to life not only Shirley Plantation but her fictional characters as well. Her story gives you a glimpse into some of the hardships of the Civil War and leaves you yearning to visit the historical Shirley Plantation.

History comes alive on Shirley plantation

This is a wonderful book. Great narration. The story comes to life during the civil war. I started listening and couldn’t stop.

Civil War Short Story

This was a beautiful Civil War Romance that really digs into hard choices made by not just warring soldiers, but also for freed slaves. The story really pulls in the historical time period, so rather than just a wishy-washy love story, we get a powerful story of love, sacrifice, and war through the true historical lens. This is the first story that I have listened to by Carrie Fancett Pagels, and while this was not totally my cup of tea, she has a great writing style and I would recommend her to anyone who truly enjoys historical romances.

Cecily White has a beautiful voice, and she kept me intrigued in the story. She has amazing inflection and made it easy to listen to this short story in one sitting and not feel like twice as long as it normally is. I would listen to another book she narrates!

#AudiobookObsessionReviewer

A Christian novella taking place in Civil War era

This was the first book I've read/listened to by Carrie Fancett Pagels. It was a well written, clean read. It was a lot to pack into such a short book. Several times I wished there had more.

Cecily White was an excellent narrator. She performed well with male and female voices. She has such a smooth, calming voice. She is a narrator I'd love to hear again.

#AudiobookObsessionReviewer

To much story for o novella

This is an interesting story, but with to many threads to be well handled in such a short book. The historical backdrop was fascinating. The narrator was great.

A really compelling Civil War romance

This is the first book by Carrie Fancett Pagels that I have experienced, and it really blew me away with both the unique storyline of the African-American experience and the diligent historical research. This 2.5-hour audiobook novella is a clean (just kissing) Christian historical romance set in Virginia during the Civil War. The location is Shirley Plantation, which is a real place with a detailed, published history, according to the notes at the end of the audiobook. In addition, most of the minor characters were real people, and the details of the Civil War in the book really happened. Angelina and Matthew were very likable and admirable people. Their romance was light, but the entire story was very compelling. I highly recommend this audiobook to anyone who likes unusual historical romance, Christian romance, or Civil War romance.

One really wonderful and unique aspect of this story is providing the perspective of people in the South who looked white but were slaves. Of course, the institution of slavery was horrifying, but I learned something from this book that I hadn’t realized before. Evidently, by the Civil War, there had been so many generations of nonconsensual or consensual sex between white people and slaves that there were a significant number of slaves who were only 1/4 to 1/16 African American. Since the cruel condition of slavery was automatically transferred to the children of slaves, some of the slaves looked as white as their owners. I won’t go into specifics about which characters in the book were in this situation so that I don’t give any spoilers.

The Christian aspect of the story is really strong. There is a lot of praying, quoting of Bible verses, and thinking about God by multiple characters. I am not very religious. If this novella had been longer, the Christian aspect might have been too intense for me. As it was, it seemed appropriate for these historical characters and I loved the audiobook as a whole.

The solo narrator Cecily White did a fantastic job. She showed an admirable repertoire of authentic accents from Virginia, Ohio, and South Carolina. She is remarkably skilled at both men's and women’s voices. Her pacing wonderfully conveyed the dangerously tense situation of two armies taking over the plantation at different times and the uncertain destinies of the characters. I would love to listen to more from this very talented narrator.

I requested and received a free audiobook copy via #AudiobookObsession, and I voluntarily wrote this honest review.
#AudiobookObsession Reviewer

Good!

I really enjoyed this audiobook. I loved the history in this! I think the narrator did a great job reading this one.

Very enjoyable historical fiction

This was a charming Civil War romance in novella length. Carrie Fancett Pagels apparently did some extensive research to get the details of this time period and setting. The story is set at Shirley Plantation in Virginia. The author has a very pleasant writing style which I enjoyed listening to.

The Story has some unexpected surprises making for a most fascinating tale. This is a clean Christian romance and I highly recommend it. It gives you a real taste of life during The Civil War time. This was a truly enjoyable read!

The narrator Cecily White added charming southern accents and was very enjoyable to listen to! I think you will enjoy listening to this southern historical fiction.

I received an Audible version from the author. All thoughts are my own.

Short Civil War era romance

RETURN TO SHIRLEY PLANTATION by Carrie Fancett Pagels

Matthew is a thespian, but is conscripted by the Confederate army. Angelina is a freed slave that was set free, but works as a servant in the Shirley Plantation until she can save the money to free her sister’s twins. The Shirley Plantation becomes a Union hospital.

The story is short, and is good. It has some twists, turns and surprises, but could be better developed and longer. It does have some great historical content.

The audiobook was given to me by the author with no requirement for review. This review is my honest opinion.