The final book in the series does not disappoint! Set in the Civil War, Martha hall Kelly again writes in three narration points - a slave, Jemma, her plantation mistress Anne-May, and a Northern abolotionist turned nurse Georgy. A strikingly deep, real look at the time period, SUNFLOWER SISTERS was hard to put down. I realized I read way more WWII books than Civil War fiction, and that perhaps that should change. A stark reminder of how far we’ve come in America, and yet haven’t at the same time.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for an ARC of this book for my opinion. This is the third installment of Martha Hall Kelly’s Lilac Girls and Lost Roses trilogy. Each books focuses on a member of the Ferriday family as we go further back in time. This book is set in Civil War America and introduces us to Georgie Wolsey who becomes a nurse helping with injured soldiers. Jemma is a slave owned by Anne-May who is the villain of the story. The story is told by each of these narrators. The book is beautifully written and is a welcome addition to the author’s trilogy. The characters stay with you long after you are done reading. I have read all of the authors books and find this one of my favorites. I will definitely be rereading it along with the other two.

I was 10% into the book on my Kindle and still not connecting with the characters or various storylines so I did not finish book.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
All opinions are my own.

4.5 stars
I've read all of the author's previous books, and this one was by far my favorite. This is a book about extraordinary women, and I could not put it down. I loved the multiple perspectives - from Georgy (nurse/activist), Jemma (slave), Anne-May (slave owner). Georgy was by far my favorite - I loved how candid she was. She knew what she wanted and wouldn't settle for anything less, and that was very inspirational.
I thought setting the book in the border state of Maryland was a good choice, as it helped the reader to understand just how divided the country was during the Civil War. This hit very close to home for me, given today's current political climate.
I encourage you to read the Author's Note, which goes into more detail on her research. An astounding amount of hands-on research was done, and it shows. I was blown away by the level of detail put into the book.
If I had to change one thing, I would have liked to read at least one chapter at the end from Euphemia's perspective.
I would definitely recommend this to others, and I think it would be a great book club discussion.

Beautiful story. I can't believe I've never read any of Martha Kelly's books, They seem to be right up my alley! I loved the era of this book and especially reading about Georgy as a nurse during the Civil war. So fascinating! I definitely felt as though this book read as a movie, the characters were so real to me by the end. The Woolsey sisters definitely have me a Little Women vibe which I loved. Jemma's story is heartbreaking over and over again, but her spirit and love for her family kept me believing she would find happiness one day.
Loved this book! Will 100% be reading more of this author's books after this one!

If you've read The Lilac Girls or The Lost Roses, the author follows the same formula. She creates a well researched book that includes someone in the Caroline Ferriday family (either herself, an ancestor, or a descendent). She has 3 female narrators; one is a do-gooder socialite (the Ferriday connection), one is a victim, and the final one is a flawed villain. In her other books, you found some sympathy for the flawed villain. In this book, it is a little harder to do that. The story focuses on Georgy Woolsey (the Ferriday connection), Jemma, a young slave girl, and Anne-May Watson, a plantation and slave owner. As in the author's other books, there are some incredibly difficult sections to read and you might want to read a few passages with your eyes closed. Our history of slavery and our treatment of black people is truly heart wrenching, and the author doesn't hold back. The highlights of the book for me were the forays into the early days of women nurses. The author clearly did a lot of research and I had no idea how hard it was for women to break into nursing, the type of training they received, and the work required of them during wartime. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it. It may follow a formula, but the formula works!

A beautifully written, well researched story told from the viewpoint of three women with diverse backgrounds. At times I felt the story was moving a bit too slow. I’m glad that I stuck with it. Certainly worth the read.

Martha Kelly's third book of the outstanding Woolsey/Ferriday family, is mainly about Georgeanna Woolsey. She is the great aunt to Caroline Ferriday who was featured in the Lilac Girls. Caroline helped young girls released from Ravensbruck concentration camp. Georgey is a story of a Union nurse who joins the war effort during the Civil War. Her sister Eliza signs up also to nurse the troops. The story of the Woolsey sisters, inspired by a true account, gives us details to the inhumane plantation life for the southern slaves. The racial cruelty and the horrors of the battlefield do not make for a light read. The one that I enjoyed most, I grew up in the Maryland area that the plantation is suppose to be located. My brothers picked tobacco during the summers. So it brought back great memories. I thank Ballantine Books for allowing me through NetGalley to read this great book. The opinions express in this review are my own.

Fantastic historical fiction. Georgy and Jemma face many obstacles and prejudices, these two women become stronger. Deep with research, there is so much to learn about the civil war but the plot moves along nicely. Highly recommend for history buffs and book clubs.

Thank you to NetGalley and The Random House Publishing Group~Ballantine for granting my wish. Another great read from Martha Hall Kelly! My favorite time in history is all about the Civil War. Great character structure. Liked every character introduced in the story. Great historical fiction!

Sunflower Sisters is written by Martha Hall Kelly who also wrote Lilac Girls and The Lost Roses. Lilac Girls and The Lost Roses were set during WWI and WWII respectively, while this story is set during the Civil War. The lead characters in Sunflower Sisters are Mary Woolsey and her daughters, a slave named Jemma and her master/owner Anne-May and the standout of the Woolsey sisters (and Caroline Ferriday’s ancestor) Georgeanna (Georgy) Woolsey who lives in New York and works for the Sanitation Commission as a nurse.
I love how the author brings her characters to life. This story is set during the Civil War with Abraham Lincoln as the President of the United States. It depicts the life style back then as it pertains to slaves, slave ownership and the abolitionists who were affronted by slavery of any kind. The characters all experience love, loss of love, rage, pain, sacrifice, sympathy, justice and joy. Though the atrocities of slavery are difficult to read about, the author does her best to describe how they were treated. Mostly unjust and despicable but that’s our history. These characters and the happenings during this pivotal time in history are based on real people and true historical facts and this was inspiring for me (as difficult as it was to read at times). Once again Martha Hall Kelly weaves her tapestry of research and brilliant writing into a beautiful story.

Thank you to NetGalley for this electronic Advanced Copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to review this book.
This book recalls the lives of three girls during the civil war. One a girl of means, one a plantation owner and the other a girl born into slavery. The book gives you a very colorful and detailed look at what it was like for these women, all in a different stature in life to live thru the Civil war times.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

From Nurse Georgy and her sisters, to Jemma, a young enslaved black woman, to ruthless slave owner, Anne-May, The Sunflower Sisters takes the reader through the darkest days of the Civil War. This novel is very slow-paced, but does hold the reader’s interest. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to be an early reader.

The Sunflower Sisters by Martha Hall Kelly takes us back to the mid-nineteenth century and tells the story of the War Between the States from three perspectives using three women. Georgeanna Woosley is the main sister, of the seven Woosley sisters, in the story. All of the Woosley children did their part to free the slaves and save the Union. Georgie became a nurse and was at the battle of Gettysburg. Anne-May is the character you love to hate. She is the mistress of the Peeler Plantation in Maryland, and is selfish and self-absorbed. Jemma and her family are Anne-May's slaves. The author has done extensive research. The Woosley family actually existed and some their letters are quoted in the novel. At the end of the novel, Kelly give factual information about the Woosleys and there are photos of them.

I'm not going to hint about the story line, but I will say if you like historical fiction, you will want to read this book. It is fantastic! I was able to read it on #netgalley.

Wonderful read. Been reading Martha Hall Kelly since Lilac Girls and as usual she doesn't disappoint. Excellent story telling, likeable characters. Sorry to see it end. Will be waiting for her next one! Thank you Net Galley!!

Received this free in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Netgalley.
While the story was of interest, and I am sure in every case based on history, it was just a bit boring. Therefore I deleted from my Kindle after 30 percent. I just could not go on. The book alternated between the lives of seven (I think) and the lives of slaves. One of the sisters becomes a nurse and goes to Washington DC within a short time after the Civil War starts. The usual stories on both sides. Loved ones going off to fight and others waiting to be freed.
While I have read many books on the Civil War, I am not sure I could recommend this novel.

Sunflower Sisters by Martha Hall Kelly is an excellent historical fiction masterpiece that goes alongside her other two books: Lilac Girls and Lost Roses. This book continues on giving us the wonderful and unforgettable stories of the strong and fierce women that were a part of the Woolsey/Ferriday family. I truly loved Ms. Hall’s other two books that covered WWI and WWII eras, so of course I had to read the third book covering the monumental and fascinating lives of the family and friends that surrounded Caroline Ferriday’s great-aunt Georgeanna Woolsey. Here we see the book alternating between Georgeanna (an abolitionist and pioneering Union nurse during the American Civil War, a female tobacco plantation owner, Anne-May Wilson-Watkins, and a female slave, Jemma, that lives within that plantation.

This story is so rich with so much: the struggles and difficulties of women trying their best to become nurses, the atrocities of the battles of the Civil War itself, the harrowing deeds and heroes of the Underground Railroad, and the horrific events that took place in regards to slavery, slave trading, and the physical, emotional, and utter abuse that was forced upon so many innocent men and women that were slaves during this time.

The author was able to take true heroes (and other historical figures) and blend them seamlessly into a fictional narrative that was so real, emotional, stunning, and jarring that just leaves me beyond impressed. I also love the Author’s Note at the end to give us a wonderful gift of where she pulled her inspiration, who these true life heroes were, and where we could find more about this amazing family.

I loved all three books and am so sad to see an end to reading the fascinating stories of the generations of women within this family. I look forward to seeing what she has in store for us next.

Historical fiction at its finest.

5/5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine for this wonderful ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR, Instagram, and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 3/30/21.

This is the first book that I have read by this author, Martha Hall Kelly. This book is the last of a trilogy about the Ferriday family and their ancestors. I will definitely go back and read her two other titles, Lilac Girls and Lost Roses.
What I love about books, like the Sunflower Sisters, is when they expose to me real people who lived remarkable lives. The Woolsey family certainly did live fully in a period of time that so fraught with strife. The book takes place during the Civil War and is told from the perspective of three characters.
While the start of the book was slow to build, it did build, and I wanted to find out what happened to all the characters. As always, when reading about the treatment of slaves, on so many fronts, it hurts my heart how cruel people can be. It also astounds me how resilient people can be when confronted with such heartless behaviors.
On another front the treatment of women nurses during the Civil War and the way the male nurses acted also surprised me. This book was researched well and used many actual war time letters to draw the story out.
Kelly paints her characters as full people with all their flaws out on display and their ability to grow and change. You can see where past hurts shaped their attitudes and how time and love could change them. So even if you hate a few of the characters you are still fascinated by them.
Kelly writes in a way that is a bit dispassionate more standbackish. I found at first it was hard to warm up, but once her style of writing became more familiar the further into the book I go the better I liked it.
Highly recommend this book, thank you NetGalley for an early peek at it.

This next review for you comes with mixed emotions my fellow historical fiction book-lits - how so you ask? Well, today’s book is the final book in the Caroline Ferriday family trilogy by Martha Hall Kelly, Author that began with Lilac Girls, followed with Lost Roses, and is ending now with SUNFLOWER SISTERS. I was so fortunate to hear and see Martha talk about Lost Roses at the 2019 Indianapolis Book and Author Luncheon and she is wonderful! This time we follow Carolines’s great-aunt Georgy (Georgeanna) Woolsey along with her equally accomplished, kind, charitably philanthropic, and well-travelled six sisters and one brother, Jemma a plantation slave that will intersect paths with her to become fast friends, and Jemma’s owner Anne-May Wilson Watson of Peeler Plantation. We will travel by hospital ship, buggies, carriages, horse, and foot through Maryland , Gettysburg, New York, and Washington D.C., through the horrific and ghastly bloody Civil War and alongside the fight to end abhorrent vile slavery. Both which resulted in an appalling loss of human life and our humanity that the author attempts to depict through the eyes of three women who led very different lives and walked separate paths but whose stories become intertwined and weaved together by Kelly.

Through the education and awareness historical fiction provides, we not only learn about the draft riots in New York and life as a slave in a border state like Maryland through Jemma’s eyes, but also about treating wounded soldiers from both sides during various military battles while being blatantly disrespected as a volunteer female nurse through Georgy’s eyes. Yet through all of the ardorous trials they must endure, these two ladies are also navigating finding their true loves and those relationships as well amidst life’s immense turbulence.

There are many poignant moments in the book, but being an avid bibiophile, one of my favorite scenes was when Jemma was showing her friend Celeste books in the library and starting to teach her how to write and read. In this section, Jemma warns Celeste repeatedly to be careful though with reading, because books would open up Celeste’s eyes to completely different worlds, options, and ideas creating a whole new awareness. This speaks to the knowledge that books can provide, ending ignorance and opening up possibilities for the reader — thus why slave owners did not want their slaves to be literate and established prohibitive laws regarding and why certain leaders and nations to this day restrict education and information access to many still!! Yet, Martha’s books bare witness to significant historical past events, gender right battles, and the abolition of slavery that these strong and brave women fought for, lest history repeat itself or be forgotten. As they say “dangerous women read!”

There’s also a wide array of subjects for every type of reader to delve into in SUNFLOWER SISTERS. For example, those with medical backgrounds may be particularly interested in the descriptions of the treatments, tools, and medicines used in the battlefield hospitals during the Civil War as well as the natural herbal remedies used by slaves on plantations. They might also learn new information regarding the training of the first nurses for the army and the development of nursing education for females, with Georgy studying under Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell for the US Sanitation Commission and then starting her own school. For history buffs, unique Civil War battles are depicted like The Battle of Fort Royal, where First Infantry units on both military sides (Confederate and Union) from the same state (Maryland) had to fight each other, pitting some families against each other — the only time ever in the US military. There are also famous cameos from Frederick Law Olmsted, Secretary of War Stanton, and President Lincoln. For fashionista readers there is significant detailing regarding ladies’ dress, hairstyles, makeup, and jewelry of that time for daily home life activities all the way to attending Benefit Balls and Events for raising money for soldiers and the war efforts.

Finally, if you want to get more behind the scenes photos and insight into this new book while you await for its release in March, Martha has a Pinterest board for SUNFLOWER SISTERS as well as for her other books that she uses during her writing process. For interested Book Clubs, on her website there is also a Lost Roses beautiful book club kit available that includes discussion questions, an author’s note, historical photos, illustrated letters and maps, ‘enrichment reading’ resources, and menu & recipe ideas. For Lilac Girls, discussion questions and menu & recipe ideas are available as well. I also foresee readers being as fascinated as I was to find out the reason Sunflowers are the theme to this final book!! I will not spoil it for anyone who hasn’t read the book yet, but due to their ties to the book, I will always think of this additional muse whenever I see a sunflower in the future!
#SunflowerSisters