The Gilmore Guide to Books

Connecting Books and Readers One Review at a Time

  • Home
  • About Me
  • Reviews
    • Reviews by Author
    • Reviews by Title
    • Reviews by Genre
  • Podcast
  • Policies
    • Review Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Policy

Neverhome: A Novel

May 18, 2015

neverhome

Neverhome by Laird Hunt
Published by Back Bay Books
Publication date: May 19th 2015
Genres: Fiction, Historical
five-stars
Bookshop

There comes a point in a reading life where, short of science fiction, it gets harder to be surprised by a novel’s premise but I have never before read a Civil War novel where the protagonist is a female… soldier. I’ve seen articles and photos of real-life women who fought disguised as men but had not come across it translated into fiction. How marvelous then that an author has done so and with such strength as Laird Hunt in his novel Neverhome.

Neverhome is one of those novels that once started there is no going back; where it is difficult to disengage and return to the present day. Hunt so thoroughly and completely captures a time and place you inhabit it with the characters. His protagonist is Constance Thompson, a woman who goes off to fight in the Union Army disguised as a man, leaving her husband behind to tend their farm in Indiana. For two years she lives as man, going by the first name Ash. She is a highly valued member of her regiment for her shooting skills and stamina but after she is wounded near Richmond and separated from her unit she is taken in by a Confederate woman who, in healing her wounds, discovers her secret and later turns her in as a spy. After she is locked up in an insane asylum her only goal is to escape and get home.

I told him I knew a thing or two about men brought to the brink and hard pushed, that I had stood alongside them many a time, that I could not hold the ugliness of war against them any more than I could against myself or those I considered my friends.

There is not a single misstep in Neverhome. Hunt sets every word in place perfectly with no gaps or cracks, each sentence dovetailing perfectly into the next and all with the cadence and parlance of the times. Told from Constance’s point of view, it reads like a journal; a diary written by a woman seeing the war as a man, in its brutal and brutish nature, the filth and terror dispelling any of the romanticism that might still cling to the legends of the War Between the States. And in this way, she reveals herself to be more Ash than Constance, more alive as she battles on the field and off, propelled by a part of herself she knew existed but had never tested. The primal nature of Ash guides her until the novel’s final pages when for the first time the she who was and the he who is collide and take away the things she loves most.

five-stars

Related Posts

  • Related Posts
  • Same Genre
  • 5 Star Books
  • By Laird Hunt
march reading
March Reading Recap
february
February Reading Wrap-Up
enchantress
Enchantress of Numbers
euphoria
Euphoria by Lily King
january
January Reading Wrap-Up
Tuesday Nights in 1980
perfect
The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy
red
Red Clocks by Leni Zumas
tsar of love
The Tsar of Love and Techno
daughters
The Many Daughters of Afong Moy
dead letters
Dead Letters: A Novel
monster
Good Morning, Monster
saffron
Love & Saffron: A Novel
gentleman in moscow
A Gentleman in Moscow
memoriam
In Memoriam: A Novel
underrated
Zorrie by Laird Hunt
house
In the House in the Dark of the Woods
underrated
2021 Underrated Gems

13 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Back Bay Books, book clubs, historical fiction, literary, Southern life, war

Comments

  1. Sarah's Book Shelves says

    May 18, 2015 at 9:04 am

    This sounds a lot like the fictional version of Liar, Temptress, Solider Spy…there was a real life female solider in that one posing as a man. It was completely fascinating.

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      May 18, 2015 at 5:47 pm

      I didn’t read that one bt heard great things about it. This just hit every note perfectly.

      Reply
  2. KatieMcD @ Bookish Tendencies says

    May 18, 2015 at 10:42 am

    This sounds really good! Added.

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      May 18, 2015 at 5:47 pm

      It’s not a big book but it will draw you in and hold tight until the very end.

      Reply
  3. Jennine G. says

    May 18, 2015 at 1:59 pm

    sounds good. I don’t see many Civil War books in general. Killer Angels is the one I read this school year, but otherwise I can only think of Across Five Aprils.

    Reply
  4. Anne Goodwin says

    May 19, 2015 at 10:00 am

    I have this on my TBR pile – need to push it up a bit nearer the top having read your review.

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      May 19, 2015 at 5:51 pm

      It’s not a big book, if that helps (I’m always trying to rationalize my reading!).

      Reply
  5. Liz says

    May 19, 2015 at 2:19 pm

    Reminds me of “Daughter of the Regiment” by Stephanie Grace Whitson

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      May 19, 2015 at 5:50 pm

      You’ve made me happy and sad with that comment! Happy to hear about another good book and sad because my TBR pile is out of control! 🙂

      Reply
  6. tanya (52 books or bust) says

    May 20, 2015 at 2:08 am

    I hate to judge a book by its cover, but this cover works for me so much more than the other cover I’ve seen. With this cover I may even pick it up and give it a try.

    Reply
  7. Melinda says

    May 21, 2015 at 7:47 am

    This sounds really good. I’ve read so many war time novels and most of the time where a female were a hero (fighting in the resistance, hiding and protecting people) I’ve never read one with a female soldier. This sounds fascinating

    Reply
  8. Lynn @ Smoke & Mirrors says

    November 13, 2021 at 10:38 am

    I read and reviewed this book at the behest of someone else, not necessarily because it was next on my priority TBR list! Though it made me feel many things, I was left feeling hopeless overall for the human race. I don’t know if that was intention, but that was my main “take away” from this book. I would agree that it was a good example of what I term “spare prose.” I will definitely read at least one more of his books, hoping to snag one with a more uplifting theme, if possible. 🙂

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      November 14, 2021 at 10:54 am

      I’m not sure he does full-on “uplifting”, but I loved his latest novel, Zorrie. Quiet, but stunning.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Goodreads
  • Instagram

Save time and subscribe via email

No time to keep checking for new reviews? Enter your email address to subscribe and receive notifications of new posts by email. No spam!

Bookshop

Currently Reading

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
by Emily Nagoski
The Dutch House
The Dutch House
by Ann Patchett
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me
by Adrienne Brodeur

goodreads.com

Affiliate Disclosure

I’m an affiliate for Bookshop. If you click on a link that takes you to their site and make a purchase I’ll earn a small fee, which goes towards the costs of maintaining this site. Your support is appreciated. Thank you!

Archives

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.

Theme Design By Studio Mommy · Copyright © 2025

Copyright © 2025 · Beyond Madison Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in