The blurb led me to request to review this book. It’s an easy read and held my interest. I knew little about the Civil War, particularly the experiences of women, other than the cruelty on plantations. My thanks to Netgalley, publisher and author for the opportunity to review.

Sunflower Sisters is historical fiction that follows the lives of three women, Georgy Woolsey, Jemma, and Anne-May Wilson, during the years immediately preceding and throughout the Civil War. Told through the alternating POVs of these three women, we learn about the Civil War through the eyes of a nurse and abolitionist, a slave, and a slave owner.

Sunflower Sisters takes us to hospitals and battlefields where the frequently crude medical techniques are described in detail and where the developing role of female nurses is explored and mostly rejected by doctors and male nurses alike. The Gettysburg battlefield in all its gory details is chronicled.

Life on a Southern plantation is presented from various POVs: a loving family of slaves; a cruel plantation mistress and her kind brother and sister; and the overseer who abuses and punishes the slaves and tracks them down if they try to escape.

Then there are events in New York City, described from different outlooks: the draft riots of the 1860s, anti-war and anti-black violence; the Sanitary Fair to support abolition.

Sunflower Sisters is based on real-life people and has been well researched by the author. It is lengthy, at 528 pages, but the narrative flows and kept my interest throughout.

Martha Hall Kelly does it again with Sunflower Sisters. I fell in love with each and every character, even the ones that I wanted to not, but they were just so well written that I couldn't help myself. Although Sunflower Sisters is sometimes difficult to read, as is most historical fiction from the slave era, the plot is powerful and strong. I rooted for Jemma, and also grieved for her, and I burned for Georgie when she was shunned for being a female nurse and replaced by clearly "far superior" male nurses. Even Anne-May, who was definitely not easy to love, was a captivating character, and I loved every single page of Sunflower Sisters.

Lilac Girls, an earlier work of Martha Kelly, is one of my favorite books of all time. Sunflower Sisters is equally good. Told from three viewpoints, a wealthy abolitionist nurse, a runaway slave, and a plantation mistress, the story covers battles and home life during the Civil War. Kelly brings to life battles such as Gettysburg as well as the everyday inconveniences citizens faced during this time. She highlights the dilemmas for families with sons and husbands fighting on both sides of the war. She merges the tales of the three main characters flawlessly. She is a master of character development. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.

Sunflower Sisters is a beautifully written story about the civil war told from diverse perspectives. A wealthy woman decides to be a union nurse against her family’s wishes. She wants to make a difference and help those in need. A female plantation owner becomes in charge of the plantation after her husband joins the union army and her brother joins the confederate army. She follows her own wishes and gets herself in trouble. A slave at the plantation finds a way to escape by pretending to be someone else but has to leave the ones she cares about behind. I liked the different perspectives and how the stories wove together and apart. Sunflower Sisters is the third and final book of the Lilac Girls series but can be read as a standalone without missing anything. The series is based on ancestors of the main characters in the previous books. Sunflower Sisters is a great ending to a great series, but I am sad this is the last book.

Thank you Ballantine Books and Random House for Sunflower Sisters.

This is the final book in the Lilac Girls trilogy. While it was not my favorite of the series, it was still worth a read.
This book follows three different women of different backgrounds of which I despised one of them. I have not read many Civil War books so it was not too repetitive for me. The storyline was a bit predictable but not annoyingly so. I still enjoyed this book and look forward to more books from this author.
Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Martha Hall Kelly excels at writing historical fiction and Sunflower Sisters is further proof of that. Once again, she easily transports readers into the times and places of the chosen era with her strong, entrancing characters and her descriptive powers.

Third of a trilogy, this book stands just fine on its own. Kelly puts us into the time of the American Civil War as told through the alternating POVs of three very different women: Georgeanne Woolsey, a northern abolitionist nurse; Jemma, a slave; and Anne-May, a plantation owner in Maryland, and Jemma's owner.

Each of these women have interesting stories to tell, and it's almost impossible not to keep turning pages to learn more about them. This is a book that you can really sink into. Both entertaining and informative, I recommend this book highly!

My thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine books for allowing me to read an e-copy of this book in hopes of getting an unbiased review. All opinions expressed in this review are indeed my own.

The wait is almost over! 🌻🌻🌻Sunflower Sisters by @marthahallkelly1 comes out tomorrow! It is very possibly my favorite of her three historical fiction titles.

🌻In November of 2019 I attended a Lilac Girls event at the @bellamyferridaygardens in Litchfield to hear Martha speak about her research and writing of Lilac Girls and Lost Roses. We all enjoyed her secret teaser of what was coming next, her third historical fiction novel set during the Civil War. Unexpectedly, we all received a surprise when a woman in the room announced that her ancestors were enslaved on the very plantation featured in Sunflower Sisters. This was emotional and it was an honor to witness this connection as she said she was so grateful her family’s story was being brought to light.

🌻Inspired by true accounts, Sunflower Sisters provides a vivid look at the Civil War experience, sweeping from plantations to a parlor rooms to the battlefield. Three women’s lives intertwine (a socialite who serves as a nurse on the battlefront, an enslaved girl who sees a chance to escape, and a plantation owner who joins a secret Southern network of spies) and the storytelling is the best Martha has delivered yet. This book is unputdownable. 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.

Available wherever books are sold tomorrow 3/30! Thank you to @netgalley and @randomhouse for my arc.

I really wish Sunshine Sisters wasn’t labeled as “Lilac Girls #3” in some places. Or “Woolsey-Ferriday (chronological) Book 1” in others. Or “Woolsey-Ferriday (published order) Book 3” in still more. Just stop the madness! You don’t need to read all the books in any order or at all to pick them up independently.

But since I have actually picked each of them up, here’s my experience with Martha Hall Kelly’s three books in her flower motif “series.”

Lilac Girls - Wow, I’m enjoying this more than I thought I would given my WW2-story fatigue. She’s a gifted writer! I look forward to the next one.

Lost Roses - Okay, this is about WW1. Let’s give this library copy a go. After about 20 pages, I just don’t care enough to go on. I’m out.

Sunflower Sisters - Hmm, the U.S. Civil War you say? I haven’t read a book about that in awhile. Let’s do it. What?! It’s 528 pages?! Why?! Ain’t nobody got time for that, but now I have the darn thing so I feel obligated. I start begrudgingly. Wait… this is quite compelling. 528 pages later… that went fast!

Allllll that to say Sunflower Sisters really is an excellent read for historical fiction fans. Chapters are dedicated to the first-person perspectives of three main characters: Georgy - a very noble abolitionist nurse, Jemma - a slave with gumption and guts, and Anne-May - a plantation owner, Confederate spy, and true baddie.

The story takes readers from slave auctions to battlefields, from draft riots to audiences with Abraham Lincoln. While these aspects of history have been well-covered before, Martha Hall Kelly has written characters that are compelling enough to keep readers engaged… for all 500+ pages.

I received an advance print copy for review from Ballantine Books / Random House Publishing Group via NetGalley.

My family and I moved to a new place recently and with so much there has been to do, both before and after the move, my reading life has unfortunately suffered these past few weeks. Hopefully, as we get settled in over the next week or so, I am able to get back into my reading groove and catch up on the books that I had planned to read last month but didn’t get a chance to.

With that said, during this chaotic time, I did manage to finish one book, though it took way longer than it usually would have, both due to the lack of time to read as well as the difficulty on my part with focusing on what I was reading. It also probably didn’t help that the book I chose to read – Martha Hall Kelly’s newest release Sunflower Sisters -- turned out to be 500+ pages. This is technically the third book in the Lilac Girls series and while I still haven’t gotten around to reading the first book, I did read the second one, Lost Roses, when it came out back in 2019 and it ended up being a 5 star read for me. So despite the bad timing, I still went into this one with a high amount of anticipation, especially knowing the story would continue to be about the same extended family from the first two books. This time around, the story is set several generations earlier, during the Civil War period, with the indomitable Woolsey women (Caroline Ferriday’s ancestors) and the beginnings of the family’s long history of philanthropy. Similar to Kelly’s previous 2 books, the story is narrated from the perspectives of multiple characters: Georgeanna “Georgy” Woolsey (one of Caroline Ferriday’s great-aunts), whose strong determination and passion for nursing leads to a calling to join the war effort as a Union nurse; Jemma, enslaved with her family on the Peeler Plantation in Maryland, yearns to free herself and her kin from the constant abuse and fear they suffer at the hands of the plantation’s mistress Anne-May as well as its cruel overseer Lebaron; Anne-May inherits a plantation that she doesn’t know how to run and after both her husband as well as beloved brother enlist in the army, she falls in with the wrong crowd and becomes ensnared in a secret network of spies.

While I did enjoy this book quite a bit, I felt that the story was a tad slow in places and at times, was bogged down by details that didn’t seem all that necessary. At 500+ pages, this is already a long book and when you add a slow-moving plot too, it can seem like a chore to read. Fortunately, the characters were well-developed and easy to connect with, which did make up a bit for the slowness of the story overall. I also found the story arcs told from the points-of-view of Jemma and Anne-May a lot more interesting and engaging than the one narrated from Georgy’s perspective. I actually felt the same way when I read Lost Roses too — the story arcs from the perspectives of the other characters were much more engaging than the one from the Ferriday/Woolsey characters. Of course, that’s not to say I didn’t like the characters because that’s not the case at all — in fact, I liked all the Woolsey sisters and especially loved Georgy’s personality. It’s just that plot-wise, the other characters’ chapters seemed to move the story along more.

Overall, I did enjoy this one, but so far, I like Lost Roses more. It seems that for most readers who’ve read the entire series, Lilac Girls is still the favorite. As mentioned earlier, I haven’t gotten around to reading Lilac Girls yet, but I hope to rectify that soon if I can!

Received ARC from Ballantine Books via NetGalley.

“Sunflower Sisters” by Martha Hall Kelly is a detailed look into the Civil War era from three distinct views: Georgeanna Woolsey, Jemma, and Anne-May Wilson.

Georgy has no desire to lunch and dance and pretend the war isn’t happening. Unlike women of her station, she desires to be more. When war breaks out, Georgeanna does what she can: becomes a trained Union nurse. Jemma is enslaved in Maryland and dying for a way to get out. As life becomes worse, her cruel owner Anne-May sells her off… Jemma must decide is escape worth it if it means abandoning her family? Anne-May is a plantation owner, left behind to run things while her husband fights for the north and her brother fights for the south. While the war rages on Anne-May slips pieces of information to the southern spies..

There’s a lot to unpack in this book, but the biggest thing I can think of is that Martha Hall Kelly has done it again. As an author, she time and time again brings storytelling magic to historical events that leaves me devouring the pages as quickly as I can. Her ability to give voice to three very distinct mindsets is impressive and interesting. She may be one of my favorite Historical Fiction authors.

The only thing that was a little difficult with this book was keeping track of the timeline. Sometimes things felt jumpy to me, or maybe I just missed something. Overall, it wasn’t jarring, but I felt like a few times there would be lines like “four months later” that I didn’t expect. There were dates at the beginning of each chapter, but for some reason, the jumps hindered flow a little.

In the end, I gave this book 5 stars. It was historical fiction at its best: engaging, interesting, and easy reading. While I’m a little sad to see this series come to an end, I’m excited to see which voices Martha Hall Kelly decides to share next!

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books (Random House) for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Based on the real Woolsey sisters, Martha Hall Kelly has crafted an outstanding historical journey into the Civil War years. Told through three narratives — Georgeanna Woolsey, a Northern abolitionist and aspiring nurse; Jemma, a slave yearning for freedom; and Anne-May Wilson, the Southern owner of Jemma and Peeler Plantation in Maryland — the narratives intertwine as the war affects the women as they struggle to survive and assert themselves in challenging circumstances.

The impeccable research is evident, making this powerful historical fiction. Using original letters, true events, and authentic medical details, Sunflower Sisters was riveting. Kelly wove those historical details seamlessly into the fiction aspect. Jemma’s life as a slave was heart-wrenching and her venture to seek freedom fraught with difficulties, obstacles, and internal battles as she grasps what freedom means. Anne-May’s character, along with her overseer, reflects the distorted thinking under the evils of slavery. And Georgeanna struggles in a male dominated world where women were thought to be weak, simple, and made only for marriage. Ultimately, though, the novel explores the myriad challenges all these woman faced in their times as women.

The three stories are effectively woven together and the suspense builds as their lives intersect through historical events, making this a compelling read. Throughout the novel I knew the medical information was accurate and the name name Woolsey seemed familiar, but when I read in the Author’s Notes notes that one of the girls wrote Hospital Days, Reminiscence of a Civil War Nurse, I remembered using that source for research in college! Highly recommended!

Sunflower sisters is a story about the fight for freedom, what the slaves on a tobacco plantation in Maryland had to go through. It takes place during the civil war. It is the third book about Carolina Ferriday’s family. The Woolsey women were abolitionist, the mother and seven sisters spent their life working and helped free the slaves. The story was so interesting with Georgeanne, the sister, Jemma, the slave girl, Anna Mae the mistress of the plantation each telling their side of the story. It is difficult to read at times because the slaves were treated so bad. The women were so strong and fought for what they believed in. I couldn’t put the book down because it was so captivating. Martha Hall Kelly has done a fantastic job with this series. She must have done so much research to make all this come together. I highly recommend this to all historical fiction readers. Thank you NetGallery, the author and Random House Publishing for the ARC. All Opinions are my own.

"Sunflower Sisters" is the final book in the Lilac Girls series. I feel like each book is better than the last. This one follows Georgy, a nurse, Ann Mary, a plantation owner, and Jemma, a young slave girl during the Civil War. Loved (or loved to hate) all the characters and how the story unfolded and connected. This is a long book, over 500 pages, but I was sad to end the book and the series. This was well researched and well written. You don't have to read the other two books ("Lilac Girls" and "Lost Roses" before reading this one but if you skip them you will be missing out on two great stories. I will be following this author to see what she does next.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This book is available now.

Sunflower Sisters by Martha Hall Kelly is a powerful story of the Civil War told by three women: a factual Georgeanna Woolsey, a nurse during the Civil War; Jemma, a slave woman in Maryland; and Anne-May, the owner of Jemma for most of the story. Also appearing regularly was the real life character of Frederick Low Olmsted, who was the head of the Sanitary Commission of the federal government who was tasked with making the war and its medical facilities more sanitary. Georgy learned to be a nurse from Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman doctor in the United States. She and her sister and mother traveled to many of the battlefields to care for the men they found there. Jemma tried to survive and take care of her mother and her sister. It was an uphill struggle and she was the recipient of much hate and cruelty. Anne-May dealt out much of that cruelty but was often the recipient of it herself, which she brought on herself because of her egocentric outlook and selfishness.

This was a wonderful book, delving into the cruelties of the time, not only slavery, although there was plenty of cruelty in it, but also of the war itself and the medical personalities and their hardened outlook toward life. Kelly described battles and how merciless they were and how so many more people died than was necessary because of the lack of preparedness regarding casualties. She was so descriptive, yet kept it palatable enough for most readers. She cut no one any slack, showing the darker side of all of her characters. This is historical fiction at its best with actual characters from the time as well as fictional characters that were an amalgam of characters that really existed and personified the reasons behind the war, as well as traits that were simply human. Sunflower Sisters is an amazing book and should be read by all in order to assist in understanding.

I was invited to read a free ARC of Sunflower Sisters by Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. #netgalley #sunflowersisters

Martha Hall Kelly returns with her third installment of The Lilac Girls series. I truly believe these characters are strong enough and in a storyline that can completely stand on its own, so do not hesitate to pick this one up even if you have not read the first two books, I was drawn into this book immediately. Centering around three strong female characters at the time of the Civil War, we are immediately drawn into this historical time period. Kelly does not hold back as we are introduced to the challenges and mindset of slavery through young Jemma a slave girl, the shallow and cruel plantation owner Anne-May, and Georgy Wolsey an ambitious young woman determined to open the first nursing school for women. I absolutely loved this book and discovering the fate of these determined women. I received an ARC of this book, all opinions are my own.

As the 3rd book in the series the author Martha Hall Kelly did an amazing job just as she did in the previous books. This book was amazing and I really enjoyed it and loved the three perspectives of these amazing women. I highly recommend it and it was a delight to read. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Courtesy of Netgalley, I was privileged to receive the ARC of Sunflower Sisters, the final book in Martha Hall Kelly's historical fiction trilogy. Following the paths of Caroline Ferriday's ancestors, this novel introduces the Woolsey family in New York, instrumental in administering nursing and social work care during the Civil War. Being a nurse, I was enthralled with the details of the beginning of nursing as an American career. Interwoven with the cruelty of slavery, an intelligent slave wanting to be free, and the characterization of a heartless plantation mistress in Maryland, this well researched book, inspired by actual events, was perfect!

Oh my this book was amazing. As much as I loved the previous two, Lilac Girls and Lost Roses, I loved this one much more. Such a powerful, moving and at times heartbreaking look at the lives of these 3 women during the Civil War.
Lilac Girls introduced readers to Caroline Ferriday. In Sunflower Sisters, we hear 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
I stayed up late several nights, as I literally could not put it down. I would put it down and go to bed, only to get back up and keep reading. That happens rarely for me.
This should be a must read for everyone, so we do not repeat the mistakes of the past. I highly recommend this to book to everyone and especially historical fiction fans and readers of books that showcase amazing women.. I will be thinking of these women for some time, especially Jemma and Georgey.

Three women must wrestle with their personal challenges as they try to stay alive and keep their loved ones close during the Civil War. When their paths cross, they do all they can to hold fast to their convictions that fall on either side of the Union/Confederacy divide. Author Martha Hall Kelly rounds out her trilogy about the relatives of the famed Ferriday family in the historically deep but ultimately lightweight novel Sunflower Sisters.

In 1861 in Maryland on the Peeler Plantation, slave owner Anne-May Wilson Watson tries to do everything she can to keep up with the latest fashions. It’s hard with the rumblings of war and a tobacco farm to oversee. Not that she does any of the actual work; that what the slaves are for.

Except the “colored” people under her thumb refuse to stay there. Every time she turns around, one or the other shows blatant insubordination. Even when she takes the time to teach them a lesson with the whip or turn her attention elsewhere if one of them has to be lynched. If only they’d remember their place and not show her up at every turn. So what if she can’t read well or write at all? As long as Jubal Smalls at the Smalls and Sons Mercantile keeps her supplied with snuff and the best materials for her wardrobe, she can withstand almost anything: the slaves’ ignorance and her husband’s stupid scientific pursuits.

Jemma is one of those “ignorant” slaves. When she belonged to Anne-May’s aunt, Tandy Rose, life as a slave was almost bearable. Almost. Under Anne-May’s ownership, even those tiny moments of relief seem to slip away.

Although Jemma and the other slaves do their best to take care of one another, there’s only so much they can push back against a system determined to keep them down. Every time Jemma feels even a glimmer of possibility of running away with her ma, pa, and twin sister, Patience, Anne-May and her plantation overseer seem to smell the efforts. Soon it becomes clear to Jemma that if she wants to escape, she might have to do it alone.

In New York City, Georgeanna “Georgy” Woolsey doesn’t hesitate to use her family’s connections to help the Union efforts. War is coming, and Georgy wants to do everything she can to help the abolitionist efforts. She raises money for soldiers and trains as a nurse so she can help them with battle wounds. Her interest in nursing grows and becomes a desire to start a school for female nurses.

People discourage her—no one will want to be treated by female nurses, they tell her, because it’s not a woman’s place to engage in the medical sciences. Georgy perseveres, however, even disagreeing with her childhood sweetheart, a full-fledged physician, who is also skeptical of her ambitions. She remains undeterred and pushes forward with her efforts to help civilians and soldiers alike.

Author Martha Hall Kelly’s historical research is impeccable. Every page showcases the authenticity of the story she’s telling. Details as small as the materials Jemma uses to make bonnets to the more gruesome details of how slave owners punished their slaves will inform readers to the point of making them feel like they’re living alongside the characters.

It’s in the characters themselves that the novel suffers its greatest weakness. Kelly builds all three of her protagonists with care and time; the book may remind readers of the sweeping sagas from a decade or two ago in the measured pace. However, none of the three characters follow a major change in their arcs.

This is most disappointing in Anne-May. While a complete change from Confederate sympathizer to abolitionist would be laughable, there is almost nothing to redeem her in the story. Jemma and Georgy present more sympathetic points of view, but they also follow fairly even-keeled storylines. The result is that the book feels more like a collection of experiences rather than a historical novelization with shattering moments and clear points of change to propel the narrative forward.

Fans of Kelly’s work and those who enjoy learning about a heartbreaking yet fascinating time of U.S. history may want to read this one. For others, I recommend they Borrow Sunflower Sisters.