Delia and Phin changed and grew as people, there was a solid underlying Christian message, and I realised I was interested in finding out whether Delia and Phin would get their happy-ever-after, against the wishes of Delia’s father. I’m glad I pushed through, because the second half of the Dreams of Savannah was excellent. But I was interested in two of the black characters, Selina and Luther, and the main reason I kept reading was to find out what happened to them. As a result, I wasn’t interested in either character at first. Neither had ever been put in a situation where those beliefs might be challenged. I guess both characters were products of their upbringing. Phineas Dunn is a nice enough young man, but has completely bought into the Southern lie that black slaves are somehow subhuman (despite the presence of mixed-race slaves and apparent acceptance of how mixed-race slaves are conceived). Cordelia is a nice enough young lady, but she is sheltered and naïve (to the point where she’s noticed she and her slave have similar unusual features, but hasn’t realised her slave is actually her half-sister). If the war was merely around state’s rights, there would have been white slaves as well as black slaves, and we wouldn’t still see the effects of slavery and racism 150 years later.Īs such, I found it difficult to empathise with either of the main characters. It’s not my favourite setting in terms of time or place, because while they claimed the South claimed the war was over the state’s rights to govern themselves, it comes back to their right to own slaves. But I wasn’t expecting a series set in the South during the American Civil War. So I was on the lookout for her next series. I especially enjoyed her trilogies set in and around World War I London. I’ve enjoyed her series of spy novels, set against the backdrop of various US conflicts.

I’m a big fan of Roseanna M White’s historical romances.

Dreams of Savannah by Roseanna M. White