The Bride of Texas: A Romantic Tale from the Real World

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

In his postscript, Skvorecky reveals that the idea for this book came
while he was researching another novel in the Czech Archives in Chicago.
While there, Skvorecky came across the personal memoirs of Czech
immigrants who had served in the Union army during the U.S. Civil War.
This American conflict has traditionally been portrayed in novels as a
fight between Anglo-Americans. Skvorecky wanted to add the immigrant’s
voice to this conflict.

Skvorecky picks several unlikely heroes to represent the Union army. A
failed priesthood candidate, an Austrian army deserter, and a man who
reaps the benefits of his sister’s gold-digging are typical recruits
of the “Lincoln Riflemen of Slavonic Origin.” General Ambrose
Burnside, considered a dangerous buffoon by most military historians,
also receives kinder treatment in this novel. Characters on the
Confederate side, however, are reduced to stereotypes. There are enough
julep-soaked gentlemen, crafty house slaves, evil field overseers, and
beautiful southern belles to stock a revival of Gone with the Wind.

What saves the book is Skvorecky’s examination of the social
paradoxes that plunged the United States into its bloodiest war in
history. To free the slaves, the federal government suspends the
existing liberties of American citizens. To champion freedom and peace,
anti-war Americans defend slavery and treason.

Because the many plots and subplots are told through flashbacks and
side trips, Skvorecky’s prose can often be confusing. Yet the
narrative is always absorbing and has a momentum that compels the reader
forward.