All Other Nights

Civil War Fiction

3.5 stars. I enjoy Civil War fiction and found this one somewhat unique compared to other CW novels I've read. It was interesting to hear the Jewish perspective of a story. I frequently waffled between liking and disliking Jacob Rappaport. At times he was strong and others he was easily influenced. The story was warranting a strong 4 stars for me but I eventually had to give it less. Although I found the espionage part of the novel interesting and tense, I thought the author did not do a strong job in establishing the relationship between Jacob and Jeannie. I never really got a good feeling of the ties between them. Also, the ending was a little anti-climatic. It was a quick blip and the story was over. I can't believe the editors didn't ask for a stronger ending. At any rate, still an interesting story and I did whiz through it fairly quickly.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

An historical novel with a twist

If you like historical novels, spy thrillers, and love stories, this well-researched book is for you. A Jewish Union spy goes undercover in the South and is faced with a multitude of moral dilemmas. The plot is fast moving and interesting, and the unusual characters are based on real people.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Page turning historical fiction

It is the Civil War and a young Northern Jewish man enlists with the Union and is engaged as a spy in the South with ensuing moral dilemmas. The writing is excellent. I will be discussing this in my book group, and I can't wait. Highly recommended.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A historical novel about a patriotic young Jew's involvement in the Civil War

Everyone in our synagogue book group agreed that this book was extremely well researched and beautifully written, a real page turner. Dara Horn's book is much more than just a love story, a historical novel or a spy thriller. The characters grow in the course of the story and we felt both empathy for and revulsion at most of them. Although this book would be enjoyable for any audience, we felt that there were nuances and sub-texts that were especially meaningful to Jewish readers...from the title of the book to Judah P. Benjamin's comments about his role in the Confederacy, and much more.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

I paid for it, so I finished it.

Were it not for the fact that Dara Horn is not a particularly subtle writer, I would think she was doing a Dorian Grey number on Jacob Rappaport, her protagonist. He gets uglier as the novel progresses. I learned a number of interesting facts about the Civil War, and enjoyed the personal histories of some of the major figures of the time. Ms Horn has some talent as a story teller---she moves the action along quite nicely. The palindromic Rose is very amusing. But Ms Horn's writing is irritatingly childish---she would benefit from the use of a thesaurus. Edwin Booth's cheeks are "gorgeous"? Ms Horn is entranced with curly dark hair, especially "errant" curls. Errant curls flop around throughout. Maybe she needs a better editor, or maybe she has a good editor but doesn't listen to him/her. In any case, her publisher should hold her to a higher standard of writing---writing sophisticated to match up with her plot, which was pretty good, even if I did think Jacob was despicable.

A fast read

I could not put this book down. I loved all the twists and turns Dara Horn's imagination brought to the story. A great gift!

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