Alligator Creek
The home front experience of the South in the final years of the American Civil War takes center stage in Lottie Guttry’s novel Alligator Creek. It tells the story of young Sarah Browning, whose husband, Alex, enlists in the Confederate army and marches off from their Florida home of Alligator Creek, leaving Sarah to face all the hardships of civilian life in wartime.
Using a great deal of period research skillfully incorporated into her narrative, Guttry dramatizes dozens of the little details that make up the worlds of women like Sarah, forced to keep homes and farms running while hanging on every furlough and every battle-report and rumor in the newspapers.
Sarah is sustained by her love for her husband, her Christian faith, and her own natural grit and determination, and Guttry combines all of these aspects into a very well-rounded character who is the most memorable part of the story.
A very enjoyable, involving read.
