Such a tender story of family, love, and faith. Green writes with such emotional depth and truth. This was my first novel of hers, but it won't be my last. I so enjoyed her rich historical detail and the unique mystery!

Veiled in Smoke is a book with so much depth, you can’t rush through it. Set during the Great Chicago fire, it tells the story of one family’s struggle to survive. It’s written well and I could clearly picture what was happening. I didn’t know a lot about the aftermath of the Chicago fire and this story gave me a much better picture of the devastation. I felt like I was there right along side the family. It was difficult to read about Meg’s father and his time in the asylum. It gave me the shivers. I really liked getting to know Meg and Sylvie better. I think the reader can learn valuable truths right along with the characters in the story.
I listened to most of this story as an audiobook. I thought the narrator did an excellent job telling the story and bringing to life the emotions throughout the story. She spoke in a easy to listen to voice that didn’t detract from the story.

I recommend this book to my family and friends.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the publisher. I also purchased a copy for myself. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

“Veiled in Smoke” by Jocelyn Green is a novel about the Great Chicago Fire. The Townsend sisters manage the family bookstore. Their father is a veteran of the Civil War and a returned prisoner of war. He has what would be determined today as PTSD. Meg and Sylvie have their hands full running the store and keeping their father from wreaking too much havoc in their neighborhood. Sometimes he thinks he is back in the battles of the war and reacts accordingly.

They were coping, but then the Great Fire swept through the business district and they lost the store. Although they escaped, they became separated from their father. With the help of a friend who is a reporter for a Chicago newspaper, they find him but are stunned to find that a family friend was murdered the night of the fire and that their father is charged with the crime. What follows finds Meg trying to prove her father’s innocence.

4.5 stars for this historical romance set in the time of the great Chicago Fire. In this book, we follow sisters Meg and Sylvie as they struggle to care for their father who has "soldier's heart" (modern day translation - PTSD), and keep their fledgling bookstore alive after the death of their mother. When the fire sweeps through Chicago, they lose nearly everything and find themselves separated from their father. This book covers not only the fire itself, but the aftermath and rebuilding.

I really enjoyed the history of this book and it really made me think about the massive rebuilding effort that had to happen after this great fire. Learning that the sidewalks had been wooden and the roofs of buildings were made of tar paper, it was easy to see how the fire spread so quickly. To see it from the vantage point of people who were living through it, including one who had PTSD from the Civil War just 6 years prior, was enlighting. Ms. Green did a good job of describing the thoughts and feelings of Stephen as he struggled with the paranoia and insomnia that accompanied his "soldier's heart". His struggles to relate to his daughters after the war was also heart-rending. I loved how the girls grew, spirtitually and emotionally, after the fire. While they had merely coexisted before, they were forced to work together to get their business back and their father back. The opening up of communication and strengthening the bonds of sister-hood were beautiful. Both sisters also sought out romance in the aftermath of the fire, but only one of them gets a happily-ever-after (I won't tell you which one though). I hope that future books (since this is book 1 in a series) will offer up the same chance to the other sister. This book also included a mystery as a close friend is shot on the night of the fire and they seek to uncover who did it and why. While I suspected the "who", the "why" took me by complete surprise. With the mystery, the historical elements, the romance, the emotional struggles of the family, and the sister theme, there's a little something here for everyone.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Bethany House Publishers for an e-copy of this book. I was under no obligation to write a review and the thoughts contained herein are my own.

3.5 stars

Honestly, I have been mulling over my review for awhile because I'm not really sure what I thought about a number of things. First, the story starts with the fire and that's some really gripping storytelling, with graphic details about the fire that honestly had me putting the book down to settle my stomach. But then the scene switches suddenly to a completely different scene and we have the girls getting used to life in a fancy house. Then again it’s back to the bookstore lot and everything changes again, plus there’s the insane asylum that lends lots of dark detail.

The asylum scenes are super intense and deal with similar material as another I read this year, [book:The Gray Chamber|43363467], but I think it was even more gritty than the other novel.

It also addresses the issues of the most famous of the Civil War’s prisons, Andersonville and Camp Douglas. While I did appreciate the highlight that the North has their own infamous place (which most fiction conveniently ignores) the statistics in the end notes also ignored the additional facts that, while the South was so pinched for food that even the guards were starving, the North was pinched neither for food nor cloth and had no reason to starve their prisoners and leave them forcibly exposed to harsh winter temperatures. It left me with an interesting conflict because I admire the wish to show that the North wasn’t perfect as far as prisons went, but then it fell short because I felt she was making excuses by comparison and basically saying “yeah, it was really bad, but it wasn’t so bad because they were worse.” And the guard who was there “wasn’t so nasty because he only stole personal items from the prisoners but didn’t torture them” and I was a bit shocked that his thefts would be considered so lightly.

Meg was my favorite of the sisters. Her staunch spirit even when faced with personal losses as well as material ones and I really enjoyed having a character who was that adult in her emotional responses rather than finding a corner to go mope in. She’s a strong woman without being unnecessarily abrasive, which I really liked. Sylvie was not as vibrant to me but that may change in the next book, since her character was showing positive signs near the end of the book.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free reading copy. A favorable review was not required.

Veiled in Smoke is a historical fiction novel written by Jocelyn Green. It is book one in The Windy City Saga.

Summary: Meg and Sylvie Townsend live one day at a time. They help in the family bookshop, and work to take care of their father-who was never the same after returning from war.

Neither of them are happy or content, but they make their way through life. And then, the fire. Everything is wiped away in one swift move, and even worse-their father is accused of murdering a family friend.

Now Meg and Sylvie must try to come to grips with their new lives after the fire, and fight with all they can to prove their father’s innocence.

Will they be able to recover what they have lost? Is there any hope of starting again?

My Thoughts: I have always been fascinated with this time period in history, and I enjoyed reading all of the historical tidbits interjected throughout the story.

The author did a wonderful job of painting a picture of what it really could have been like during and after the Great Chicago Fire.

The story was definitely very melancholy though. This is actually not the first time I have said this about the author, so maybe it is a writing style? Anyway, the ones I have read have an abusive father figure, and there is a lot more down, than there is up.

Overall though, I thought the storyline and the mystery were very interesting, and I especially liked the main male character Nate Pierce.

I probably wouldn’t read it again, but I think mainly because it could have used a little more positivity for my taste. The writing was well done and the storyline interesting, so if you don’t mind the melancholy you might enjoy this book.

I would like to thank Bethany House Publishers for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my review. Thank you.

Veiled in Smoke is a trip deep into the history of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Author Jocelyn Green takes the reader along the tumultuous ride that sisters Meg and Sylvie experience before, during, and after the fire. This story also delves into the mysteries of PTSD, at the time referred to as Soldier's Heart, and how it affects not only the soldier, but those they love, and those they have contact with upon reentering everyday life.

In the story, Meg and Sylvie have grown up in and above a bookstore owned by their father Steven Townsend. Just as they each learn to stretch their gifting and navigate adulthood, the fire ravages their neighborhood and their family, forcing both young women to realize that they cannot live life on their own. As they learn who to trust, and who not to, they are faced with the unnerving decisions they must make on their own as their father has been accused of murdering his best friend, Hiram Sloane, and is now in an asylum.

This book took me longer to read than most of Jocelyn's earlier works. It delves so deeply into PTSD, and the tragedy of the Great Chicago Fire that I found myself needing to step away for a few days after each chapter and process the emotions the topics raised. Such a great book, but so deep and challenging.

Finishing reading this offering just as the current situation with Covid-19 started spreading gave me a new appreciation for how much we humans can endure, when we look to the right place for our strength and wisdom - when we look to God to order our steps.

I highly recommend this book, with a caveat: if you are struggling with depression because of the pandemic, it might be best to enjoy another of Jocelyn's titles and save this one to read later in the year.

This story, which is set during the days of the great Chicago fire, was enthralling. There’s several plot lines that seem at first to be unrelated to the fire, but the author skillfully weaves them together into an book that I could hardly put down. I liked the main characters, Meg and Sylvie. I had great sympathy for them as they tried to navigate very difficult circumstances, compounded by PTSD suffered by their father, Stephen, during the Civil War. Stephen’s mental health unravels further as a result of the fire, and the family has much to overcome as they try to rebuild their lives after the fire and help their father return home to them.

The research the author put into this book made this story come alive, and I think this is Jocelyn Green’s best book so far. I also appreciated the spiritual emphasis of the story, especially as it related to Stephen and his internal struggle to not let his horrible war experiences completely destroy him. There’s more to be told about this family, and I look forward to this series.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Meg and Sylvie must cope with their dad's PTSD from the Civil War. Stephen had been jailed at Andersonville in South Carolina and suffered greatly. In Chicago during the Great Fire, their home and business were destroyed. Fleeing from the fire, their father was caught up and wrongly arrested. Because of his "soldier's heart" condition, he was kept in jail. Newspaper reporter Nate, a new friend of Meg and Sylvie, helped with his release. But, there was still the PTSD to contend with, all while trying to rebuild their home and business. Meg and Sylvie have a lot of pluck, for sure.

The story also includes the intriguing story of a Confederate solider, turned Union soldier.

Incredible story of faith and courage amidst the backdrop of the Great Chicago Fire.
This is my first time reading any of Jocelyn Green’s stories and I will definitely be reading more in the future. She did an amazing job of writing a historically accurate story with deep characters, (good and bad) in a compassionate and eye-opening way.
The characters are presented with insurmountable obstacles, yet their faith and determination help them persevere against all odds. My heart ached for them and the tangible pain (both physical and emotional) they endured during the story.
It was a bit heavy in places but there were bursts of camaraderie, human connection and grace that helped balance it out. The way everyone came together and rebuilt after the fire was very touching and inspiring. .
In light of the current pandemic, reading about the connection and persevering spirit of humanity made this story settle well on my soul, like a breath of fresh air and a reminder of the most important things in life: faith, and people.
I’m excited to read the next story in this series and highly recommend this one.

I was given this free copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed here in are completely my own.

This wasn’t necessarily an easy read. A good read, but not easy.

I could see how these fictional characters could very well exist, in their broken state, physically and mentally for some.

My heart broke for Meg as she incurred a horrible injury that would forever impact her life and her art. I’ll allow you to find out for yourself what that injury was, but I will say that Jocelyn Green brought her characters and their injuries—inside and out—to life. You can really tell the extensive research Green puts into her work. And you read about it in her author’s notes). I learned so much, right after enjoying this beautiful yet tragic story of family restoration. Of a family that wouldn’t give up on one another.

The fire in Chicago set the story up, but it’s the characters that won me over in this story.

This story is as beautiful as the cover (and it is quite beautiful, isn’t it), you will love these characters and will cheer for Meg as jumps hurdle after hurdle … and even opens her heart for a man who is ready to protect it at any cost.

You will be moved with compassion for any soldier who suffers with PTSD. Jocelyn, the way you painted that asylum … well, I’m still reeling from it. It reminds me of some things I saw in a prison museum last summer here in Kingston. Appalling. Degrading. Dehumanizing.

But Stephen wouldn’t give up. I loved reading about his desperation as he cried out to God for his rescue.

It moved a little slower in the beginning, for me anyway. If you find that, please keep reading because it's so worth it!

After reading this book, and thoroughly enjoying Green’s Between Two Shores last year, I think I’ve found a new favorite author. This story was incredibly well done.

I love stories that have complex plots—and this one had it! The history was a major portion of the story, but never once was I distracted by details—it flowed naturally with everything else, so I found myself learning a lot about the Great Chicago Fire while immersed completely in my character’s current experiences. Then there was a mystery element which I was curious about the entire book, and hoping so much that one character wouldn’t be involved in the entire time! This book also covered a form of PTSD, and learning to begin again after terrible setbacks that would make some people give up…this felt like it had it all.

There was so much to be learned from and enjoyed in this book, and I really doubt I’ll ever look at this particular event in history the same again. As a historical fiction lover that likes a touch of romance but not too much of a focus on it, I really appreciated that element in this book. It was just there—but a sub-plot. The characters were also well-formed, and if it weren’t for the fact that I was sucked into the story so much, I would have liked to pay more attention to how they were developed through the story. I enjoyed this enough that I would love to have it on my shelf someday. Highly recommended.

I requested a free review copy of this book, and this is my honest opinion of it.

A historical novel with unexpected truths.

I have been putting off my review of Veiled in Smoke for a couple weeks now. You see I was so surprised to find a historical book with such a depth of knowledge of post traumatic stress disorder.

I wasn't sure what to expect, I thought Veiled in Smoke would be a sad book, but I didn't expect it to be so, so hard. Stephen was a character who suffered horribly at Andersonville during the Civil War as a prisoner of war.

Meg and Sylvie's relationship wasn't the closest or the sweetest in the history of sister relationships, but I liked seeing how they changed and grew as the story progressed.

I know this is a shorter review but I don't want to spoil anything and I surely would if I said much more.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

RATING: 2.5 STARS
2020; Bethany House

Veiled in Smoke is the first book in the Windy City Saga, and also my first book by Jocelyn Green. I liked the realism around the PTSD of Civil War soldiers. This novel takes place years after the war, and Stephen, a POW suffers from PTSD that has taken over a lot of his mind. His daughter, Meg and Sylvie, take care of the bookshop and try to help their father when they can. Then the Great Fire sweeps through Chicago's business district, and the women are separated from their father as they try to find refuge. They lose their shop and home, but it is the murder of a close family friend that tears them apart. Their father is accused of his murder, and they are staying with the dead man's long lost nephew. As their father is put in an asylum, they look to see how they can get him released and find a new place to live.

Green has done a lot of research of the Great Fire, Civil War and aftereffects of the war on the soldiers and really makes that a strong portion of the story. You may ask why I rated this novel only 2.5 stars. While the research and passion behind the novel has been strong, the characters and the story itself suffers a bit. I found some parts of the book dragged a bit and the ending moved too quickly. I often mixed up Meg and Sylvie. They seemed so alike I would need to reread a few pages to see which was which again. I knew this was a series before I read the novel, but I am not sure where this series would go next. I guess Sylvie (I think that's the non-artist one) will find love in book two, or will it focus on other characters? I may read the next book in the series, but I would definitely try another standalone novel by Green.

***I received a complimentary copy of this trade paperback from the publisher and via Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

Classic Jocelyn Green. A beautifully written story that captures you attention from the first chapter and does not let go until the final page. Give yourself the gift of savoring this story. You will not be disappointed.

I almost walked away from this one several times, but in the end stuck with it because of the overwhelmingly positive reviews it had gotten. I'm so glad I did, as I really enjoyed the story once it really started rolling... The initial bits establishing the family dynamic were very interesting, as was the fire itself - but I lost the feel for the characters and story on its immediate aftermath. I found it again with the asylum and rebuilding angles and the mystery about the shooting though, and from there I was catapulted directly into the sisters' world and stayed there until the very end. Despite that oddly uneven blip for me, I found this an engaging and interesting tale that covered several issues in American history that I wasn't all that familiar with, and that also offered a solid mystery and family storyline that combined into a complex and richly descriptive tale that I quite enjoyed.

Amazing historical fiction! A must-read book!
I loved the historical facts mixed into this beautiful story of tragedy and hope. The insight into a Civil War Veteran dealing with Soldier's Heart (now known as PTSD) and his family was amazing. I felt the emotions of Meg and Sylvie, I felt the conflict between them as they had different ideas of how to care for their father. I understood the panic Stephen felt. The horrors of the asylum were so awful, sadly they were also true.
The fire itself was so well described I could almost smell the smoke and feel the crowds of people pushing to escape the flames. The murder mystery was an unexpected element that I enjoyed very much! I don't give spoilers but the twists and turns kept me glued to this story.
Part of one of my favorite quotes is, "Gratitude-expanded inside Meg, for the uncounted steps, small and large, they'd all taken to reach this point."

I've said before that I always learn something when I read a Jocelyn Green book, this one is no exception.
Today was actually the second time I read and/or listened to this book, (gifted a paperback and purchased the Audible version)

I wanted to say I loved this book, but I will confess now that I only made it about a third the way through. I'm sure it would be a great read during another place in time. But right now, I just couldn't deal with all the shattered lives and sadness. Maybe after all this is over I will try again.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Net Galley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Meg and Sylvie Townsend own a family-run bookshop in Chichago. They also take care of their aging father a Civil war veteran suffering from PTSD. WIth the help of a reporter Nate Pierce , Meg and Sylvie narrowly escape the great fire that ravages the city. When they are eventually reunited with their father, it turns out that their family Hiram Sloane has been murdered and their father is the prime suspect....

It was quite clear that Veiled in Smoke was well-researched with the detailed descriptions and historical details. It was a great primer for someone (like me) who has heard this great fire and would like to find out more. Readers who are fans of Jane Austen and the Brontë Sisters will also enjoy the numerous references made throughout the book. Nonetheless, if you enjoyed Tracie Peterson 's In Times.Gone By, I am quite sure that you will enjoy Veiled in Smoke too

Veiled in Smoke
by Jocelyn Green

Bethany House
Bethany House Publishers
Christian
Pub Date 04 Feb 2020


I am reviewing a copy of Unveiled Smoke through Bethany House Publishers and Netgalley:


This book takes us to 1870's Chicago where Meg and Sylvia Townsend manage the family bookshop and care for their Father Stephen a former Prisoner of War of the Civil War, who is still suffering from in mind and spirit from his time as a POW. But when the great fire sweeps through Chicago they will face a greater loss than just their store.





After the sisters are separated from their Father and make a harrowing escape from the fire and flames that went after everything in it's path with the help of Chicago Tribune reporter Nate Pierce. After the smoke cleared away, they reunite with Stephen only to later find out that their family friend was murdered the night of the fire. What is even more shocking is that their Father is accused of the crime and is committed to the Cook County Insane Asylum where he is treating appallingly before even being given a fair trial



Despite being injured, homeless, and unemployed Meg must try to gather the pieces of hers and her sisters life, as well as do everything she could as well as prove her father's innocence before the asylum truly drives him mad.


I give Unveiled Smoke five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!