A Beautiful Glittering Lie by JDR Hawkins

CHAPTER ONE 

“Oh, look! Here he comes!” Jenny exclaimed.
The crowd exploded with cheers.
David looked over to where she was pointing, his hazel eyes squinting in the bright sunshine. An elegant black-lacquered carriage drawn by six white horses pulled up to the steps of the regal Greek revival-style state capitol building. Eight musicians burst into “Dixie’s Land.” A slender, stately, middle-aged gentleman stepped out of the carriage, and was escorted by military personnel to a waiting platform, where he took his seat.
“He looks a mite sickly to me,” remarked David’s father, Hiram.
Mr. Kimball concurred.
“Well, I’ll be glad when this here circus act is over,” grumbled Hiram’s longtime friend, Bud Samuels.
He was an amusing man with a scraggly beard and a constant twinkle in his eye. David thought of him as an uncle. But the distressed tone in Bud’s voice alarmed him, for it was unusually out of character.
“I thought you wanted to bear witness to this,” Hiram fired back.
He looked at his son and winked. David saw a glimmer of devilishness in his father’s blue eyes.
“I did, till I had that vision last night,” Bud replied.
“Vision?” asked Mr. Kimball.
Bud frowned. “I’ll tell y’all about it later.”
A pastor stood, walked up onto the platform, and requested that the people bow their heads before he started a short prayer. The crowd chanted “Amen,” in unison, and the middle-aged man who had arrived with his entourage approached the podium. Withdrawing his notes from his inner coat pocket, he began to speak.
“Gentlemen of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, friends, and fellow citizens. Called to the difficult and responsible station of chief executive of the provisional government which you have instituted, I approach the discharge of the duties assigned to me with a humble distrust of my abilities …”
David glanced over at the spectators standing beside him, who were listening intently. He noticed several soldiers on horseback, patrolling the area. The stately man’s voice brought him back, recapturing his attention.
“I enter upon the duties of the office to which I have been chosen with the hope that the beginnin’ of our career as a confederacy may not be obstructed by hostile opposition to our enjoyment of the separate existence and independence which we have asserted, and, with the blessin’ of Providence, intend to maintain.”
Looking at his friend, David nudged him with his elbow. “Hey, Jake, what do you think of ole Jeff Davis?” he asked in a hushed voice.
“Ain’t sure yet,” came the reply. Jake grinned at him, his young face beaming, and a gleam in his brown eyes. “I jist hope he keeps it short.”
“Our present political position, achieved in a manner unprecedented in the history of nations,” continued Jefferson Davis, “illustrates the American idea that governments rest upon the consent of the governed, and that it is the right of the people to alter or abolish governments whenever they become destructive of the ends for which they were established …”
David found himself swaying slightly, his feet growing tired from standing, since he had been in the same spot for over an hour, waiting for the president’s arrival. His tall, lanky frame slumped as he shoved his cold hands deep into his coat pockets. Unintentionally, his mind drifted, and he began daydreaming out of boredom, thinking about the changes that had taken place. In his opinion, it had all started two years ago and had escalated from there. First was John Brown’s raid, followed by his hanging. After that came Lincoln’s election, and now, one by one, Southern states were seceding. His own beloved Alabama had been the fourth to leave the Union only a month ago. Since then, three more states had disaffiliated. The country was splitting in two. A slight breeze blew by, causing him to shiver from the cold February chill. He forced himself to listen once again.
“If we may not hope to avoid war,” Jefferson Davis read, “we may at least expect that posterity will acquit us of havin’ needlessly engaged in it. Doubly justified by the absence of wrong on our part, and by wanton aggression on the part of others, there can be no cause to doubt that the courage and patriotism of the people of the Confederate States will be found equal to any measures of defense which their honor and security may require …”
“It’s mighty cold out here,” Jake complained. His vaporized breath floated away like a small, wispy cloud.
“Sure is,” David responded with a sniffle.
“Will you two please hush up?” Jenny quietly growled, her dark brown pipe curls swirling out from under her amber bonnet, encircling her porcelain-like face.
“Sorry, sis,” Jake said with a smile.
She rolled her brown eyes at him before looking back up at the platform.
“There can be but little rivalry between ours and any manufacturin’ or navigatin’ community, such as the Northeastern States of the American Union,” said the president-elect. “It must follow, therefore, that mutual interest would invite goodwill and kind offices. If, however, passion or the lust of dominion should cloud the judgment or inflame the ambition of those states, we must prepare to meet the emergency and maintain, by the final arbitrament of the sword, the position which we have assumed among the nations of the earth …”
“Is he sayin’ that we’re fixin’ to go to war?” Jake asked his father.
“Don’t rightly know what it means,” Mr. Kimball replied. He gave his son a sidelong glance before returning his gaze to the platform.
“I reckon he’s referrin’ to the fact that Northern tyranny has suppressed us here in the South,” Jenny’s husband, Nate, said softly, giving an affirmative nod. “And if the Yankees don’t allow us to leave peaceably, we’ll take up arms if need be.”

This book received an honorable mention at the Los Angeles Book Festival.
This book was awarded the B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree

In the spring of 1861, a country once united is fractured by war. Half of America fights for the Confederate cause; the other, for unification. Rebel forces have already seized Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines, a new Confederate president has been elected, and the Constitution has been revised. In northern Alabama, a farmer and father of three decides to enlist. For Hiram Summers, it is the end of everything he has ever known.

After Hiram travels to Virginia with the Fourth Alabama Infantry Regiment, he is quickly thrust into combat. His son, David, who must stay behind, searches for adventure at home by traipsing to Huntsville with his best friend, Jake Kimball, to scrutinize invading Yankees. Meanwhile, Caroline—Hiram’s wife and David’s mother—struggles to keep up with the farm as her world revolves around the letters she receives from her husband, whom she misses dearly. As Hiram and his son discover the true meaning of war, they soon realize that their choices have torn their family apart.

In this historical tale, the naïveté of a young country is tested, a father sacrifices everything to defend his home, and a young man longs for adventure—regardless of the perilous cost.
Civil war tore families apart, and many of those families fought to stay together every step of the way. “A Beautiful Glittering Lie” is a novel of the American Civil War, as J.D.R. Hawkins writes of the Summers family and the rift the war brought to their family. Drawing on her heritage to tell the tale, Hawkins presents an insightful and riveting read of a family at war. “A Beautiful Glittering Lie” is a strong pick for historical fiction collections. Able Greenspan- Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

Civil war tore families apart, and many of those families fought to stay together every step of the way. “A Beautiful Glittering Lie” is a novel of the American Civil War, as J.D.R. Hawkins writes of the Summers family and the rift the war brought to their family. Drawing on her heritage to tell the tale, Hawkins presents an insightful and riveting read of a family at war. “A Beautiful Glittering Lie” is a strong pick for historical fiction collections.
Greenspan’s Bookshelf  - Able Greenspan- Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

We are so proud to announce that A Beautiful Glittering Lie: A Novel of the Civil War by J. D. R. Hawkins is a 2012 B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree. This assures readers that this is a book well worth their time and money! - G. Indiebrag

This is a very good book! From first to last, it was exciting and thoughtful, raising important questions about the effect of war not just on the nation but on regular people.

The historical quotes and history are intertwined well into the fictional plot, and the horror of battle is well represented. The violence is not gratuitous but rather an essential part of the theme.

The book is well plotted and the narrative moves along at a satisfying pace. The reader is treated to a history lesson of the Civil War through the eyes of common folk.
I would certainly look forward to the sequel - Writers Digest

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Historical Fiction

Rating – PG13

More details about the author

Connect with JDR Hawkins on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://jdrhawkins.com/