The Last Silk Dress

I enjoy reading historical fiction and the classics because I enjoy learning about history while reading a story and because I love the way that classics are written.

The best book I have ever read is The Last Silk Dress by Ann Rinaldi. This book is historical fiction and took place during the Civil War. The main character, Susan Chilmark, is living in Richmond, Virginia before and during the Civil War. Susan lives with her father, whom she adores and a southern belle mother, whom Susan cannot stand. Susan also has a brother Lucien that ran away and lives somewhere else in Richmond and is never spoken about within the family. After her father joins the Confederate Army, Susan leaves the house disguised as a boy, and accidentally meets the brother that she never knew. She sneaks out of the house more and more without her mother knowing to meet Lucien. When Susan is with Lucien she meets others looked down upon by society, like his best friend Timothy and others who support the Union . Throughout this book Susan lives through the deaths of family and friends, scandals about her family and birth, harsh treatment from her mother, and a brother shunned from society. When the ladies of Richmond decide to make a confederate balloon Susan changes the way she thinks and what side of the war she is on. When the balloon is completed she attempts treason against the Confederacy, with the help of a certain Yankee...
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