The Second Mrs. Hockaday is a novel that takes place during the civil war. It is told though diary entries and letters.

We are introduced to the main character, Placida as she is meeting her husband to be, Major Hockaday. Though she is still a teenager and has just met the gentleman, she agrees to marry him. They set off to his farm, where a servant girl and a son, Charles, from major Hockaday’s previous marriage are waiting.

Almost immediately the major must leave for war and Placidia is left to run the farm and take care of the baby Charles.

Through the letters we learn that events transpired while Major Hockaday was away fighting the war and that Placidia is accused of having a child and killing that child while he was gone.

I have to admit that I was confused a lot of the time while I was reading it. There are many characters and with the story being told in letters, it was sometimes difficult to keep track of them. I’m not sure that specific technique helped the storyline.

It did hold my interest from beginning to end.

I received an ARC copy of the book.

Told through letters, journals and legal testimonies, Rivers’ story of a young bride who is left alone with her stepson during the American Civil War, and accused of infanticide on her husband’s return, is a striking one.

It took me a little while to acclimate to the diction and form of this novel; starting it off with a letter from Placidia to her cousin Mildred, in which she gushes about the day she met her husband, was a little tedious. I was right there with Mildred saying, “Yes, yes, BUT WHAT ABOUT THE BABY?” And just like that, I was hooked. As the letters went on and I saw Placidia grow from a young girl into a woman whose ideas were her own, the mystery of the “incident in question” pulled me through at breakneck speed.

"At this time I had begun to hear gossip in town about Mrs. Hockaday – that she had carried a child, birthed it at the farm, and killed it there…"

With the form of multiple resources, you are able to see the story both from their perspectives, as well as from the perspective that they want you to see it; Placidia is aware that her letters are being read by other than their addressees and neither wishes to incriminate herself, nor burden her dearest friend and relative. Her rumoured beau is desperate to defend her honour (and his own reputation). Digging through all this propriety is a fun challenge for the reader, and beneath all of it is a story that is tragic and earnest.

The strength of this novel lies in Rivers’ extensive research. In fact, it was during research that she discovered the snippet of a story about a woman accused of murdering her illegitimate child. The attention to detail, through references to real soldiers in battle, dress and customs, to the use of idiomatic language that is accurate to the time (based on Rivers’ perusal of real journals of the Civil War) gives this novel a rich authenticity. At the same time, Rivers does not bore the reader with a history lesson: this is history as lived, not a textbook. She focuses on how the experiences felt rather than bogging the story down with too much detail, and the novel is the better for it.

Where it fell a little short was the depiction of Placidia’s husband. As he looms in the distance, accusing her of murder and refusing to reply to her letters, and in his absence at the front (minus the few letters that make it past the interfering postmaster to Placidia), he is a silent monolith. He has a big, empty presence, and I found it hard to know him or sympathise with him, except for those few letters. I could empathise with him as a soldier but I couldn’t see him as Placidia’s husband very clearly.

Overall, it is a strong first novel and I look forward to seeing more from Susan Rivers. The portrayal of this era is gritty and real, and the form of it was refreshing, as it allowed the reader to piece it all together. This is a good one for book clubs and history fans.

Incredible! Loved it. Will definitely recommend to others and to book club

This depiction of life on the home front during the Civil War is heart-breaking. Not the hardship of life on the plantation, but a young wife alone on a small farm, just trying to make it from day to day. Placidia is a wife of only two days when her husband must return to the front. She is young and idealistic and totally unprepared for the hardships that life will throw her way. When her husband returns years later, they are both changed by the war. The farm is, for the most part, intact. The people, however, are not. I found the timeline difficult to follow at times, hence the 4-star rating, but this book was difficult to put down.

Inspired by true events, Susan Rivers' first novel, The Second Mrs. Hockaday (Algonquin, digital galley), is a fascinating collage of Civil War history and mystery told through letters and diary entries. Placidia -- Dia -- is 17 when she marries Confederate major Gryffth Hockaday after a brief acquaintance. Two days later, he is recalled to battle and Dia is left to run his South Carolina farm and care for his young son from his first marriage. Two years later, Gryffth returns to the scandalous news that his wife has given birth and the child has died. Accused of adultery and murder, Dia refuses to explain her actions, which are gradually revealed, along with long-held family secrets. Rivers doesn't skirt the everyday brutality against women and slaves, nor does she sensationalize it. Dia, Gryffth, the slave Achilles, little Charles -- all come across as complex, credible characters.

from On a Clear Day I Can Read Forever 1/2017

Placidia, 17 yrs old, meets an older man during her step-sister's wedding. She also learns that her father hasn't long to live and since he wishes to have her future secured, this older man may be the quickest way to accomplish that. Plus Placidia finds him attractive and is willing. A marriage is quickly performed and the two of them leave her home the next day. Shortly thereafter, the dashing husband returns to his Confederate unit leaving Placidia with a farm, his sickly young child and a very few farm hands during the Civil War. She is ill-prepared for what confronts her and when he returns several years later he will question everything she has done and have her arrested. This book is told through letters and diary entries and is based upon a true story, or stories. Did Placidia give birth during her husband's absence? Did a child die, if so, then whose? The book has a slow start then it really picks up. I found I could not easily put it down nor stop thinking about the characters; the mark of a fine tale.

An utterly fascinating look at life in South Carolina during the civil war, this book tells the story of one woman, Placidia Hockaday, just seventeen years old, left to fend for herself when her husband goes off to war after only a few days of marriage. Through letters, court documents and diary entries, her amazing fortitude under difficult and often horrific circumstances is depicted. Although this is fiction, due to the author's comprehensive research, many of the people, places, and circumstances are based on historical facts.
This story highlights how essential slavery was to white people in the South and how afraid they were of losing control of slaves. Without all the free labor, everything collapsed. The immense evil of a whole society based on exploiting other people and keeping them subjugated is hard to comprehend. The cruelty that was inflicted on slaves for hundreds of years is a shameful mark on our history and not often fully acknowledged. The author calls it the "American Holocaust".
Placidity begins to see slavery as the terrible thing it is and is upset to realize how it had been sugar coated during her childhood to keep up the pretense that it was normal. One example of this is that they call the slaves "servants" while treating them like animals to be owned and controlled.
While her husband is off fighting with the Confederate army, Placidia is left to manage the farm for years with just a few slaves to help her. As the war nears its end, chaos reigns. There is no effective law enforcement and crime is rampant. She has no chance against the multiple brigands who steal and abuse her. One particularly terrible experience was kept a secret until her descendants uncovered the truth years later.
In case you're thinking that this sounds depressing, let me reassure you that this is one of the most enjoyable books I've read lately. I was put off by this rather bland title (imho) and frankly was not looking forward to reading it, but I was pleasantly surprised. I was so engrossed in this riveting story that I couldn't stop reading it. I highly recommend this extraordinary book.

Set in the South during the Civil War, this novel explores the complexities and horrors of one of the most tumultuous times in US History. Placidia Hockaday marries a soldier she has just met, and is thrust into the responsibilities of taking care of her baby stepson and her new home while her husband of only a few days is called back to the war. When her husband returns, he finds that she has given birth to a baby that cannot be his, and that the child has died in unknown circumstances. When she refuses to tell him (or anyone) the truth of the situation, he has her charged. Little does he know what she has been through in his absence, what she has learned about life and love, about herself, about the society in which they have been living and the vagaries of man in wartime, or what she has suffered while struggling to build a home and a future for them.

The beauty of novels written in the form of letters (epistolary, I believe it is called) is they are so very personal. The depth of the relationship between the letter writer and the intended receiver dictates how much information is revealed, how much emotion is conveyed, and it goes a long way in giving the reader insight into each individual character. And somehow it feels so much more honest, genuine, and heartfelt.

The other benefit of this approach in this particular book is the ability to unravel details of the story in small pieces, from multiple perspectives, creating a steady thread of suspense about the mystery at hand. It’s a well-crafted patchwork that brings the pieces of the story together beautifully. Some might find it disorienting or confusing at times, but for me it was a part of the joy of reading the book. It jarred me a little, but without creating any sense of disconnection.

While I love historical fiction, the Civil War era is not one I’ve read much about, and it took me awhile to get comfortable with the dialects of that period. However, within a few chapters, I had made the adjustment, and I found myself lost in the story. I had just finished another book and had some time left before bed and thought I’d read a chapter or two. Instead, I stayed up late, reading half of it in one sitting, and sadly put it aside to finish the next day.

This is a quick read that I thoroughly enjoyed. It heightened my interest in a period of history I’ve not read much about, and did such a wonderful job of highlighting all the complexities of that time. I’d absolutely recommend it.

When a new bride must bid goodbye to her soldier husband during the Civil War, she has no idea of the challenges that will come her way. In addition to running an entire farm, she will deal with rogue slaves and wayward men taking full advantage of the separated families caused by the war. Author Susan Rivers writes with compassion and brings her experience as a playwright to the fore of her moving, timeless novel The Second Mrs. Hockaday.

At the age of 17, Placidia Hockaday has no thought of marriage. During the festivities of a family wedding, however, she meets widower and single father Major Gryffth Hockaday and feels a connection to him. When Major Hockaday asks her father for Placidia’s hand, Placidia agrees with little reservation.

The newlyweds get to spend a scant two nights together before Major Hockaday must return to the front lines of battle. Placidia learns to run the huge farm that was once the home of Major Hockaday and his late first wife. In addition to managing the farm, Placidia learns how to handle the slaves and also her most precious charge: her husband’s toddler son, Charles.

Placidia loves Charles immediately, and she proves herself resourceful in running the farm. But when the major comes home at the end of the war, he receives word of a horrifying fact: during his absence, Placidia became pregnant, gave birth, and lost a child who she then buried on their land. Enraged, the major asks for legal proceedings to begin against his wife.

He confronts Placidia but gets no information from her and takes her silence to mean that she was, indeed, unfaithful. Within months Major Hockaday drops all the charges, and he and Placidia reconcile. Their relationship, however, is forever altered, as much by Placidia’s unspeakable circumstances as by Major Hockaday’s post-traumatic stress.

Author Susan Rivers shows her strength in the extensive research she did for The Second Mrs. Hockaday. Setting the book in South Carolina, the first state to secede from the country during the Civil War, creates somber overtones for a book that drives right at the heart of a conflict of this magnitude. Some facets may apply only to the era of the Civil War, but Rivers shows with ease that the struggles of war are timeless.

Despite this being her first novel, Rivers sets for herself an ambitious format: she tells the entire novel through letters, journal entries, and court documents. Not a single standalone piece of narrative comes into play. Some authors would attempt this format and end up letting their story down. Rivers succeeds on every front.

The result is a book that feels intimate on all levels. Its heartbreak and its terror become real because readers hear directly from Placidia, Gryffth Hockaday, and even their children and other family members. The letters the characters share as well as Placidia’s journal all go to show that war can affect people decades after it ends, and no one should take that consequence for granted.

Rivers does use some terms and language from the Civil War era, but she doesn’t let the language get in the way of the story. Readers will find themselves settling into the rhythm of the novel soon enough. For those who enjoy literary or historical fiction with universal overtones, I recommend readers Bookmark The Second Mrs. Hockaday.

This book had a slow start for me (though I think this might have been due to some wonky formatting from Netgalley). However, once I got past some of those issues, I found myself rapidly sucked into the novel. I had to know what happened to Placidia.

A beautiful blend of mystery and historical fiction, THE SECOND MRS. HOCKADAY tells the story of Placidia Hockaday, accused of giving birth to a child while her husband was away fighting in the Civil War, and murdering said child. The story is told in fragments, with letters from Placidia to her aunt, from Placidia to her husband during the early years of their marriage, segments of the court inquest, and more. Gradually, the reader pieces together Placidia's story and determines her verdict. The ending was satisfactory, but a little too neat and tidy for my tastes. Overall, I recommend. 4/5 stars.

If you like historical fiction, please look for THE SECOND MRS. HOCKADAY by Susan Rivers. The story takes place over two generations, during the American Civil war and in 1892. The focus is on Placidia Fincher Hockaday, a not quite 18 year-old girl who marries a Confederate soldier (Major Gryffth Hockaday) and then is left to take care of his farm and young son at Holland Creek, South Carolina. In material provided by her publisher, author Rivers explains that the story is based on a real inquest that occurred in 1865 involving a youthful wife (named Elizabeth Kennedy) accused of murdering the infant she bore in her husband Arthur's absence. Rivers says that she was "electrified by the plight of this young woman and by the extraordinary courage she must have possessed to face this ordeal alone in a war-torn world."

The fictional Placidia Hockaday is herself a truly memorable character. The feeling of immediacy, apprehension and overall emotional impact of the novel are deepened by Rivers' choice to relate events through letters, through the inquest proceedings, and ultimately through Placidia's diary (written on the back of illustrations in her copy of David Copperfield due to paper shortages). Rivers obviously relied on extensive research for details like that and recommends numerous sources in her end notes.

THE SECOND MRS. HOCKADAY, a debut novel by playwright Rivers, is a Library Reads choice for January 2017 and received a starred review from Booklist.

3.5 stars

The Short Of It:
A decent historical fiction read set during the Civil War and told mostly in letters.

The Long Of It:
"The Second Mrs. Hockaday" is an engaging epistolary novel set in South Carolina during and after the Civil War. It centers on an unspeakable incident, a fated romance and the changes wrought by war, both for those on the battlefield and those left at home.

Placidia is still a teenager when she is forced to make a life-changing, spur-of-the-moment decision to marry a man she barely knows, Major Gryffyth Hockaday. There's an undeniable connection between them, but will that be enough to sustain their relationship when, after just two nights together, Major Hockaday is called back to the front?

Placidia is abruptly left to manage the farm and servants, care for the major's infant son by his first wife, and fend off all manner of nefarious men looking to take advantage of a young woman on her own. Things take an unfortunate turn, which the major finds out when he returns home to hear whispers of a heinous crime his young bride committed during his two long years away.

The story is told in letters, diary entries and inquest transcripts, both in the 1860s by Placidia and in the 1890s, after her death, when her son discovers her Civil War journal. With some surprises along the way, the two timelines race toward the same conclusion -- what is the truth behind Placidia's alleged crime?

Rivers' tale is drawn from a variety of true events and real people, and it paints a stark portrait of perhaps the darkest time in America's history -- humans as property, brothers killing brothers, and the scummiest depths of human nature. It was an intriguing, sometimes intense story, but it ends on a hopeful note, and Placidia's perseverance and courage throughout are admirable. I thought the epistolary format was a brilliant decision by Rivers, and after I got used to her writing style I enjoyed it. It wasn't a perfect book, but if you like historical fiction or novels about strong women, it's definitely worth a look!

*I received a free advance copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Shortly after the American Civil War, Placidia Hockaday begins a series of letters to her aunt about the peril she finds herself in. But she refuses to say exactly what happened. While her husband, Major Gryffth Hockaday, was away fighting for the South, Placidia had a child and is being accused of murdering it. But at first, all she wants to talk about in her letters is her first meeting with Major Hockaday and the circumstances of her wedding. She was a naive 18, and he was twice her age and a widower with a baby son. They knew each other all of one day.

Eventually, we learn that Placidia, or Dia, as her family calls her, does not know how her baby died. It seems obvious that her real crime is her pregnancy and her refusal to name the father of her child. All she will say is that she cannot betray someone who helped her. Rumors are rampant.

Susan Rivers is pretty clever about how she spins out her story, although at times I got impatient with Dia’s relatives’ squeamishness in avoiding reading her diary of the time. Her son has found it written on the backs of the pictures in a copy of David Copperfield, and the contrast between the picture captions and the content of Dia’s diary provide a note of irony and a whole other level of information. Nevertheless, we are completely captured by the story of her difficult life during the war, as she slowly and with great suspense works her way to the point.

Dia has been left without enough support on a remote farm in South Carolina after only being married a few days. She soon dismisses the slave woman caring for baby Charlie when she sees her smack him. Eventually, she is left with too little help on a farm that is repeatedly looted by deserters and bandits, as well as undergoing normal threats to agriculture by the weather.

This is a powerful novel. If I have any complaints about it, it is for Dia’s devotion to her husband after he leaves her without word or enough help for several years and then, upon returning home and hearing rumors of her illegitimate child, apparently turns her over to the authorities without even speaking to her. Then she decides not to tell him what happened for his own sake.

Told in a series of letters and diary entries, this story gripped me from the first page. it is a forceful depiction of the vicissitudes of war on the innocent civilians and a great character study of a strong woman.

What a great way to start the year!!! I read this gripping story in one sitting. For a debut novel, this author is a natural story teller and her historical research enhances this poignant and heart-breaking tale.

The first time I picked up this book to read it, I was like WTH, I could not figure out what was going on and being as there were many books coming out on January 10th, I put it aside and picked another book. Then when it was the last one left to read for that day, I picked it back up.

Why, after I got into it, had I kicked it to the floor? This was actually a great book told in a series of letters of a young wife, who had married Mr. Hockaday (a widower with a young son) and who after two days was called back to the Revolutionary War. She was about 17 years old and was left to take care of a young child, several hundred acre farm with stock and produce goods, slaves and the upkeep of all these items. She came from a well to do family and had never had to worry about these things in her life.

Not only that, there were men who passed themselves off as military men and would steal from the farmers and take what they want. It was a horrible time. I felt so sorry for this poor woman and what she had to go through.

This journey I went on with her was absolutely eye opening, interesting, informative, entertaining, horrifying, sad, emotional, dispiriting and I am certainly glad I did not live during this era. The author took me back to this time and I relived this era through her eyes. A very entertaining and sad journey that I will not forget.

Huge thanks to Algonquin Books for approving my request and to Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

Patrons that enjoy historical fiction will appreciate this title.

Always game for a novel set during and around the events of the American Civil War, I didn’t have to read too far into the description of Susan Rivers’ soon-to-be-released The Second Mrs. Hockaday before I knew I wanted to read it. I didn’t think much of the fact that the novel promised to tell the story in question through letters, journal entries, and inquest papers—it actually would have made it more appealing because telling a story through such limited means can lead to particularly creative story-telling. In the case of The Second Mrs. Hockaday however, I think these narrative conventions fail to live up to that potential and ultimately rob the story of some of its natural tension.

Placidia Fincher Hockaday met her husband the day of her step-sister’s wedding and married him the next day when she was but seventeen years old. A widower with an infant son, Major Gryffth Hockaday and his new bride didn’t have much time to themselves before he was called back to the Confederate front lines by his commanders. For the remaining two years the war lasted, they were separated with Placidia running his farm, raising his son, and commanding his slaves. When he returned at the end of the war, he discovered that there were scandalous rumors about just what his wife had been up to in his absence—and with whom. Decades later, the Hockaday children—having buried their parents—begin to uncover their mother’s secrets from those two years, what drove a wedge between their parents, and what brought the couple back together again in the end.

While the letters, journal entires, and inquest papers prove to be a unique approach to telling this particular story, for me they failed to live up to their potential and the story as a whole suffered as a result. Letters and journal entries in particular can be remarkable ways to establish characters and their voices for the reader but—as is too often the case—the need to provide exposition for the reader becomes a tricky sticking point. The book reader rather than the character the letter is addressed to takes precedence and so the letters themselves lose much of what they could and should be in order to maintain the suspension of disbelief; it simply doesn’t make sense for Placidia writing to her cousin, Mildred, whom she grew up with and who is more like her sister to be explaining things like the various relationships between her and her step-family because Mildred was there and would already know. Similarly, the journal entries diverge too much into what feels like more of a third person narrative of events; in the later letters between the Hockaday children when they refer to their parents using their first names and other titles in ways that just don’t feel genuine, in part because they are used so inconsistently. Instead of establishing distinctive characters’ voices and styles, they feel too similar in their approaches. They all have the same habit of using literary and classical imagery in their metaphors while simultaneously feeling the need to then explain the symbolism behind it (which are obviously for the book reader’s benefit but also show a lack of faith in those readers’ and either their prior knowledge or ability to look up a reference they don’t immediately know).

Aside from the ways that the narrative format tends to collapse in on itself, it also prevents the events at the heart of the novel—a painful misunderstanding, separation, and reconciliation between Placidia and Gryffth upon his return from the war—from being directly addressed until the end of the novel. There is so much talking around specific events that they failed to live up to the characters’ hype. When the younger Hockadays begin looking into their parents’ past, there are so many dire warnings given to them by their aunt (the same cousin Mildred) despite the fact that she admits to not knowing the whole story herself. When the younger son, Charlie, learns the whole truth it temporarily shatters his sense of self and sets him off on an entirely different path in life. But when the reader finally learns the whole truth, it’s a bit anticlimactic; there were only so many things that could have happened and only so many people who might have been involved.

Though the final journal entires are touching, I can’t help but feel that the novel misses its own point. There’s so much emphasis placed on this horrible thing that happened and nearly destroyed this couple it leaves their descendents wondering how they ever could have survived it… but there is so little of the actual healing that it leaves the story feeling incomplete. There are also a number of aspects that feel underdeveloped—or that were really only dropped in to serve as red herrings, distractions. So while I do feel like the underlying story was worth telling, I think a more traditional narrative convention would have served the story better.

The Second Mrs. Hockaday will be available for purchase January 10, 2017.

I enjoyed "The Second Mrs. Hockaday" by Susan Rivers. Though it took me a little while to get into the rhythm of reading letters as the narrative unfolds, the rich & personal history shared throughout the story is well crafted & thought provoking. It's an extraordinary tale, and I'm so glad she re-created Mrs. Hockaday's experience in order to share it with readers and provide perspective into such a difficult time in our country's history. Well worth the read!

My first reaction upon finishing The Second Mrs Hockaday was stunned silence immediately followed by a powerful sense of loss. Placidia's story so entranced me that it took me several hours to mourn the fact that I had finished it. The silence came about because her story was so powerful it swept me into her world and made me forget my own. It has been a long time since any novel has made me feel this way.

Susan Rivers' second novel is the epitome of exemplary use of the epistolary literary format and stellar writing. Through the use of personal correspondence, diary entries, and legal documents, Ms. Rivers not only tells Placidia's tragic story but recreates the South at the end of the Civil War with vivid clarity. Each document has a distinct voice that adds to the story as much as their words do. Other than the inquest documents, the letters are so natural and honest that it is all too easy to get sucked into reading just one more letter, and one more, and yet one more. The Second Mrs Hockaday is the perfect example of an unputdownable novel.