Juliann Dorell

The Cold Heart of War Juliann Dorell

This story was inspired by the letters written home and the diary of Corporal Edwin N. Josselyn. It's 1858 and the Rev. Ben Pattison a traveling minister, arrives in Fairfax, Ohio. His anti-slavery tent revival sermons forever change the life of Beatrice Bradley whose wealthy parents allow him to pitch his tents on their property. She falls in love with the charismatic preacher. When he is found dead, she believes that he was murdered by a gang of anti-abolitionists and vows to avenge his death. Beatrice joins the Underground Railroad to help escaping slaves coming through the town struggling to get to the Promised Land. Talk of civil war begins to divide the people of Fairfax. Nightriders are burning the homes and farms of people who are against slavery. When the town hires Dr. Bradford Phillips, he secretly joins the Underground Railroad too. Doc becomes friends with Mary Leland and her son, Tom, who are healers. He becomes a mentor to Tom, teaching him how to treat illnesses with modern medicine. Doc and Tom join the Union army as doctor and medical assistant when war is declared. The war takes its toll on Doc and Tom when they are confronted with massive numbers of wounded soldiers at each battle. Doc and Tom learn to distance themselves from the agony and death. They return to Fairfax to the women and families who have waited for them all the long years of war. But is this enough to heal them from the coldness of war?