Somehow, a bond had been formed between two very different women - a sheltered Southern girl who was to become a wife of one of the most important men in the South and one of the slaves of her family. Against all odds in their cirsumstances and life, two good souls have recognized each other. Mary Anna Custis Lee, the wife of the famous Confederate general Robert E Lee, and Selina Norris Gray.

While this is a work of fiction and while I am European, not American (so I might be prone to not recognizing some important (or less important) cultural and historical references) - I was truly impressed by this novel. This is the finest of what I ever read by Ms Love - and by finest I mean the leaps and bounds finest. I was able to feel the two different stories and two very different lives, which is not an easy task to undergo for any writer. Mary Lee and Selina Gray are as different as the night is different from the day - and here in this novel they were given their own voices and lives. When reading about Mary Lee, I was immersed into her story and she was the most important person in the novel - and the same was happening when I was reading about Selina. Which I consider a wonderful storytelling.
As for who is the most interesting character - to me, this is Selina, who is much more realistic, down-to-earth and representing a cause I am much more interested in (the desire for dignity). But again, her story is much more fictional, so this might be the reason for her being more interesting than the impractical, idealistic Mary Lee. But again, having said that about her - Mary Lee was a product of her times and it is not her fault of being of the education and opinions we now render as not the ones what had been proven by the history as the best. Mary Lee was burdened with many losses (and serious illness) and yet she has tried to be kind to anyone. Very fine lady indeed.

This novel has me think about the kindness - that we should strive to see what is truly burdening a soul, not yet what we THINK is burdening the soul. Which might be the task greater that we are (one can not truly sees the depths of the another soul always (if even), but we should try and try. But even if we do not always succeed in understanding the soul - the acts of kindness are still resonating with the others and might offer them at least some shelter from the rain of their pains and problems.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. While it wasn't a nail-biting/white-knuckled book, I truly learned a lot of history from this book. Seriously. I wish more history textbooks were written this way, I would have had an easier time reading them.
I liked the back and forth points of view from Mary and Selina, and each other's views on slavery.

I enjoyed the book. This book was about the friendship between Robert E Lee's wife, Mary, and her slave, Selena, before, during, and after the Civil War. It was interesting reading about that time in history, and how, at a time when slaves were horribly mistreated, that Mary took the time to teach Selena and other slaves how to read and how she wanted freedom for the slaves. I felt that the book was well written. The only thing that could have improved the book is if dates were included within the story. I would be reading about the kids or an event and suddenly, there was a time jump of several years. Overall, this was a good book. The book stayed true to Robert and Mary's history and that of the South.

Link to blog post: https://godsgirl4life2.wordpress.com/2017/04/22/mrs-lee-and-mrs-gray-by-dorothy-love/