Al acabar sus estudios de Medicina en Europa, Julián Chisholm regresa a los Estados Unidos, su patria, que en aquellos momentos se agita en plena Guerra de Secesión, y se alista en el bando confederado. Sus esfuerzos por difundir los entonces innovadores procedimientos en materia de cirugía, sus aventuras amorosas y, sobre todo, las peripecias de su ocasional matrimonio, cautivan la atención del lector ya desde el primer instante.

This book tells the story of the Civil War through the eyes of Dr. Julian Chisholm, a surgeon for the Confederate army. Julian, who was born and raised on a working plantation, chooses to support the south out of loyalty, but throughout the book, he secretly sympathizes with the Union cause. His life is further complicated by falling in love with Jane, a Union spy who commands an outfit of bushwhackers commissioned to help Union prisoners and slaves escape to the North. Although the book has plenty of action and detailed surgical scenes, the plot centers around Julian and Jane's painful romantic journey to outlast a brutal war so they can be together. Most of the book, though heartfelt and moving, is dark and depressing as the author doesn't try to hide the brutal side of this difficult period in our history. ( )

n a Dark Garden was written in 1946 and is one of Slaughter's earlier books. The author's North Carolina roots show as Dr. Julian Chisholm's ancestral plantation is on the Cape Fear, near Wilmington. For the time, it was fairly enlightened and didn't really romanticize The South. Julian really doesn't want the plantation or the slaves. He knows the South is on the wrong side of the war. Still, he chooses to fight for what he considers his home. During the story, he does have even more of an attitude change as he encounters Union sympathizers. I think that is what keeps the book readable now.

Of course, our hero performs new surgeries and brings a lot of more modern ideas into action. His reasoning is sound and made it believable. The romance is more of a twist. Our hero is torn between two women, and the reader gets to see how that plays out. The description of war, as seen through the eyes of a compassionate doctor, must have rung even more true just after World War II when the book was released.

I enjoyed the book. It was well-written and had an interesting story to tell. Some of the language and themes were typical of the time but fit in the story.

I need to hunt up the sequel, The Stubborn Heart.

Recommended for fans of historical fiction or medical fiction. If you enjoy both, this should be on your reading list. ( )