Sunflower Sisters

A Novel

By: Martha Hall Kelly

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld, Shayna Small, Jenna Lamia, Cassandra Campbell, Martha Hall Kelly

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Martha Hall Kelly’s million-copy bestseller Lilac Girls introduced readers to Caroline Ferriday. Now, in Sunflower Sisters, Kelly tells the story of Ferriday’s ancestor Georgeanna Woolsey, a Union nurse during the Civil War whose calling leads her to cross paths with Jemma, a young enslaved girl who is sold off and conscripted into the army, and Anne-May Wilson, a Southern plantation mistress whose husband enlists.

“An exquisite tapestry of women determined to defy the molds the world has for them.”—Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours

Georgeanna “Georgey” Woolsey isn’t meant for the world of lavish parties and the demure attitudes of women of her stature. So when war ignites the nation, Georgey follows her passion for nursing during a time when doctors considered women on the battlefront a bother. In proving them wrong, she and her sister Eliza venture from New York to Washington, D.C., to Gettysburg and witness the unparalleled horrors of slavery as they become involved in the war effort.

In the South, Jemma is enslaved on the Peeler Plantation in Maryland, where she lives with her mother and father. Her sister, Patience, is enslaved on the plantation next door, and both live in fear of LeBaron, an abusive overseer who tracks their every move. When Jemma is sold by the cruel plantation mistress Anne-May at the same time the Union army comes through, she sees a chance to finally escape—but only by abandoning the family she loves.

Anne-May is left behind to run Peeler Plantation when her husband joins the Union army and her cherished brother enlists with the Confederates. In charge of the household, she uses the opportunity to follow her own ambitions and is drawn into a secret Southern network of spies, finally exposing herself to the fate she deserves.

Inspired by true accounts, Sunflower Sisters provides a vivid, detailed look at the Civil War experience, from the barbaric and inhumane plantations, to a war-torn New York City, to the horrors of the battlefield. It’s a sweeping story of women caught in a country on the brink of collapse, in a society grappling with nationalism and unthinkable racial cruelty, a story still so relevant today.

A great reminder of our greatest weaknesses and strength

This was a wonderful book and was very well performed. Many parts are hard to hear, but are important. The characters are well developed and are very real, and you understand their motivations. This book does a great job demonstrating how people can excuse away bad behavior. Racism is well described in this book and shows a great spectrum of how it can appear (some unfortunately will sound all too familiar in modern days). This novel is a great reminder of our terrible history, the struggles to do better, and the rewards of perseverance.

Historically accurate characters

The characters draw you in slowly but steadily. The Woosy family is a real family with much of the events described actual events in their lives. Jemma’s fictional story is intertwined around these actual events.

Outstanding

Love historical fiction and this is one of the best series. I love the way each of the books is intertwined by the characters. Made the reality of the CivilWar and the horrors of slavery Come to life and gave me as a reader a deeper understanding into that time. Well done and thank you to the author.

Loved this ending to the series

This was such a different setting with new characters but still woven with the first two books. Loved it.

Wow that best book ever!! So much history a must read

Loved it all the way each person n was told it great detail! Loved all the voices . It was so detailed i couldn’t wait to listen again!! I cried to find out this historical story. So sad how people were treated. The author has every detail like u are right there you can see all and even smell the flowers.