Shadows: Book I

Here’s a book about the American Civil War that you haven’t read before. It’s not about battles, although, of course, some battles are mentioned because they impact civilians. If you’re looking for a “big idea,” it might be: war’s onset threatens Anabaptists’ beliefs and communities.

            A farmer in Virginia could find hungry soldiers raiding his granary or killing farm animals to take back to their military camp. Or a young man in Chicago could find himself caught between his friends enlisting and his own conscience and upbringing against killing other human beings. Or a girl living in an isolated mountain community could experience family disruption with unexpected visits from young men fleeing conscription.

            Those kinds of dilemmas make up the heart of Book I, Shadows, the first in a trilogy called SCRUPLES ON THE LINE: A Fictional Series Set During the American Civil War.

Five narrators tell the story of Mennonites, Amish, and German Baptists in various locations (Virginia, Chicago, and Iowa) during the War Between the States. Book I begins in 1859 and goes through the spring of 1862.

As a reader, your pulse may quicken and you may be grumbling over political demands and religious rules. And yes, you may see parts of yourself in characters and situations from the nineteenth century, surprised at all that echoes yet today.

Visit Shepherd.com for additional information about how Shadows fits with other books and the theme of War, Conscience, and Religion.

Shadows Audiobook Sample:
Esther, read by Evie Yoder Miller

Shadows Audiobook Sample:
Betsey, read by Joanne Juhnke

Praise for Shadows

“In Shadows, Miller illuminates a little-known perspective on the Civil War while deftly bringing to life highly individualized characters caught in the crucible of war. Here we meet the people with scruples who struggle to follow their faith when God’s words conflict with orders from their government. How can they follow Jesus while marching to war against fellow citizens? Such complex, nuanced insights into our American history are embedded in this riveting story.” –MARILYN DURHAM, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

“Through the contrasting points of view of her protagonists, Evie Yoder Miller marvelously calls to life the mounting uncertainties that emerged for peace church people in a nation descending in Civil War. Along with military and political perils, there is family tumult, church conflict, and neighborhood tension. An evocative portrait of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.” –STEVE NOLT, co-author of Mennonites, Amish, and the American Civil War

Video: Evie Yoder Miller talks about writing
and the creation of Shadows