A new book review

Ganzglass, Martin R., 2016, Blood Upon the Snow, A novel of the American Revolution, Peace Corps Writers, ISBN 978-1-935925-72-9, perfect bound paperback, 344 pages, www.peacecorpsworldwide.com

There's no doubt in my mind that Blood Upon the Snow could have been sold to a commercial publisher. The quality of writing and the plotting are both superlative. The writing is descriptive, but also personal, when Ganzglass gets inside the heads of the characters. Of course the details of the Revolutionary war are well known, but it is no mean feat to weave real and imagined characters together to tell a gripping story, as the author has done with Blood Upon the Snow. This is the third in a series of four novels about the Revolutionary War. The primary viewpoint character is Will Stoner, a corporal when the book opens and later a sergeant in the American artillery. He and a few other characters are imaginary, but almost nothing else is. This novel sticks to the facts, but that's not all it does. Ganzglass has a gift for turning what could've been a dry, factual account of the war into a riveting story of personal travails and successes that is also a factual account of the war.

Ganzglass skillfully uses the technique, familiar from fat bestsellers, of switching from one viewpoint to another to give the reader a more full and sympathetic understanding of what all of the major actors are up to. These characters include a Hessian soldier, an American traitor working with the British, one of the famous rifleman who fought with devastating accuracy against the British and Hessians (armed with more primitive weapons), and Elizabeth, the woman Will has been courting since part way through the first book.

The story begins with the taking of Trenton, in which the rebels recapture the city from the British and their Hessian allies, at the end of 1776. A lot of the book concerns the battles in which Ganzglass's protagonist participates, because he is, after all, a soldier. The struggle between the British and Hessians and revolutionaries, between the armies that want to stand and fight versus those that can't afford to, is a matter of historical record. However, Ganzglass's descriptions of these battles bring them to life like no American history book that I was forced to read in school. I would have enjoyed the textbooks a lot more if they were written like this! There is also a lot about daily life, both urban and rural. I particularly liked the raising of a bridge and the building of a mill entirely by hand. The descriptions were very clear, and fascinating.

During the course of this novel, Will is reunited, briefly, with Elizabeth, the object of his long-distance affections. Because they don't get to spend much time together, their romance progresses slowly, but it does progress. In the latter part of Blood Upon the Snow, Will overwinters with General Washington's army at Valley Forge, and that's where we leave him, anticipating spring.

I highly recommend this book. You don't have to be particularly interested in Revolutionary War history to enjoy it. It is more novel than history, despite the author's care to avoid factual errors. I have one quibble. The book could have used careful copy editing. This is obviously something that the Peace Corps press does not provide. It's a shame, because typos and other small errors can disrupt the flow of the narrative. I hope the author takes it upon himself to get his next book edited on his own.

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Review: Cannons for the Cause

Book Review 5/5 *****

Ganzglass, Martin R., 2014, Cannons for the Cause, Peace Corps worldwide, peacecorpsworldwide@gmail.com, ISBN 978-1-935925-38-5, trade paperback, 336 pages. $11.69 from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Cannons-Cause-Martin-R-Ganzglass/dp/1935925385/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1409520529&sr=1-1&keywords=Ganzglass

I should mention that the only other novel of the American Revolution I have read is Johnny Tremaine, which I read before I entered high school. In the interests of full disclosure I should also point out that I read Cannons for the Cause because I know the author. I have read Ganzglass's first novel, The Orange Tree, which is loosely based on his own family. I thoroughly enjoyed that book, but this one is incomparably better. Clearly, writing The Orange Tree was good experience. Ganzglass has gone from good to excellent.

Cannons for the Cause is the tale of Willem Stoner, a farm boy from upstate New York, who is caught up in in the war for independence. 16-year-old Willem is hired, along with a team of horses and a wagon, to help take cannons to liberate Boston from the British. A great many things happen to the young farm boy as he plunges from rural isolation into war, and into the heart of urban America.

Willem has never been far from home, but he is good at making friends and he quickly fits in with the other teamsters and the soldiers with whom they are traveling. It is winter, and wrestling heavy cannons over the mountains in the snow is back-breaking work. The original plan is for Willem to take his team only part way to Boston, and hand “his” cannon over to someone else. It turns out that the Continental Army has trouble finding enough teamsters. Willem is only too happy to continue to Boston. He has not had a happy home life, and is dreading the day when he has to return to his abusive father. He is thoroughly enjoying this opportunity to help get the cannons to where they are desperately needed, and to show what he can do when free of his father's dominion. Outside of Boston, he uses his team to carry powder, food, and other supplies to wherever they are needed. Soon the artillery bombardment begins, and face-to-face battle can't be far away. Cannons for the Cause takes Willem through the battle for Boston and its aftermath. At the end of the book the battle's won but the war's not over. We will see Willem again.

Ganzglass researched the setting of Cannons for the Cause thoroughly, and it shows. But it shows in a good way. He doesn't stuff the book with facts to prove he knows what he's talking about. Willem notices what a bright 16-year-old would notice in a war. He sees what he really would encounter dragging a cannon over a mountain, helping to set up an artillery emplacement, and fighting for his life. What hit me most strongly about this book was the people, not the accurate background. The characters are three-dimensional, their interactions are extremely realistic, and I found myself turning pages as fast as I could right to the end. I can hardly wait for the sequel.

Five out of five stars, if you are counting. This book is fine for young adults: young protagonist; no sex. There's plenty of tension on other fronts to appeal to young folks.

Review of The Orange Tree

Ganzglass, Martin R., 2011, The Orange Tree, Peace Corps Writers Press, 418 pages, ISBN 9781935925033, perfect bound trade paperback.

The Orange Tree is a moving story of the interaction between representatives of two very different cultures. Helen and Amina, an elderly Jewish woman and her Somali nurse, meet in an American nursing home. The relationship that develops between them is the nexus that brings together both of their families and unfolds for the reader a story of the 20th century in central Europe, in the Horn of Africa, and in America. There is a lot of history in this book, but it is not a history book. It is about life, It is about today, and most of all it is about human beings dealing with life and what it brings.

One thing I particularly like about this book is the flashbacks. If movement back and forth through time is written poorly the narrative thread can be disrupted, never to be repaired. Ganzglass knows how to step out of the present and into the past. He shows us vividly how our past creates our selves. And what a fascinating past there is. My ancestors come from Europe. I have read about the wars that shaped the continent, but my knowledge about these things was impersonal, even though they are part of my history. Now, through this story of the life of Helen and her family, it's personal. In The Orange Tree we don't learn as much about Amina and her family, and I knew far less about Somalia than about central Europe to begin with, but it feels authentic. And just as personal.

The Orange Tree is a first novel, but it was written with keen insight into human nature and a well-developed ability to express that insight in words. The author, an American, worked for several years in Somalia as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Clearly, he has maintained a compassionate interest in the Somali people. When cultures meet they don't have to clash. Dissimilar people can strengthen one another, and The Orange Tree shows one way that can happen.

I recommend this book. I read it in two sittings. If my body could still afford the effects of staying up all night to finish a novel, I would have done that with this one.