Gilbert Morris
Edge of Honor (2002)
Author: Gilbert Morris
Genre: Romance (Historical)/Christian
Plot Summary:
Quentin Laribee is a man of humble roots and a strong and enduring faith in God. He is a promising young doctor in New York City who is engaged to the upper class daughter of his boss, whose medical practice he is poised to inherit. Everything is going as planned until he is drafted into the Union Army during the Civil War. He works as a doctor, tending to wounded soldiers, until he is forced to pick up a weapon when his camp is attacked. In a tragic accident Quentin kills a Confederate soldier who is attempting to surrender. As a man who has dedicated his life to saving lives, Quentin is devastated and unable to return to normal and resume his life. Haunted by his actions, he travels to Helena, Arkansas, a small southern town, to help the widow and children of the man he killed. While in Arkansas Quentin faces the challenges of being a Northerner in a southern town shortly after the war and finding a sustainable source of income for a young women and her children duri
ng a time of economic hardship in the region. Things become further complicated as Quentin and Eden, the widow, come to care for one another and he is unable to tell her of the real reason why he came to help her. Quentin turns to God as he is torn between a commitment to a woman and a life in New York that he has become increasingly less satisfied with and a deeply developing love for the widow of the man he killed. SPOILER: Quentin gives up his life in New York and moves to Helena. He sets up a medical practice in town and soon gains the trust and friendship of the residents. Quentin finally allows himself to confess his love to Eden and tell her the secret of what he had done. Eden forgives him and they decide that Quentin will become a new father to her children and that they will get married.
Geographical Setting: America: New York City, Virginia, and Arkansas
Time Period: End of the Civil War and early Reconstruction (the exact date is never specified)
Appeal Characteristics:
Foremost, readers who enjoy Christian fiction will enjoy the central focus of Christianity in the lives of Quentin, Hannah, and Eden. They are constantly quoting the Bible, praying, relating their struggles to Christian themes, and seeking advice from their spiritual leaders. As a result, they are the most developed characters and other non-Christian or non-converting characters are not given as much detail. The time period is a strong appeal element and Quentin’s experiences during the Civil War and after Reconstruction play a large part in the plot and setting of the book. The book has multiple settings, but the New York City and Virginia battlefield settings are not described with the same luster and attention to detail that is given to the small town of Helena Alabama and the Breckenridge farm. The romance between Quentin and Eden is a major appeal element, as is the love triangle that forms when Quentin is torn between being with the upstanding woman he loves (Eden) and keeping his word to Irene who is shallow and vain. The strong moral at the end to avoid gossip and not to judge based on appearances is also a major appeal element.
Read-alikes: Readers might first want to try other books by Gilbert Morris. He has written over 150 books, so there are many to choose from. A good place to start would be the Cheney Duvall, M.D. series, beginning with The Stars for a Light. They were co-written by his daughter Lynn Morris and follow a young woman who is also a doctor in the years after the Civil War as she explores issues of tensions in the country, racism, and the role of women in society. They are written with the same style and tone as Edge of Honor and also include a Christian theme and often multiple plots. Readers who enjoyed the Civil War aspect of Edge of Honor might also want to read his Appomattox Saga series about two brothers on opposite sides of the Civil War, starting with A Covenant of Love. However those who don’t want to get involved with a 10 book series but still enjoy Morris’ Christian love-triangle romance might prefer Jordan's Star, where a woman remarries her dead husband’s best friend, then must choose when he miraculously turns up alive. Readers who enjoyed the Christian themes, the historic details of the North and South during and after the Civil War, and the fast-paced plot with multiple sub-plots might also enjoy Daughter of Twin Oaks by Lauraine Snelling. This book follows a young woman from the South who looks to God for help as she is taking her young brother and her horses to safety and as must hide from Union and Confederate troops. For more gentle Christian themed fiction with historic detail focusing around a divided country, readers can try The Meeting Place by Janette Oke and T. Davis Bunn. This book is set in Canada in 1753 during a time when the English and French are about to go to war over the country. It follows an English woman and a French woman who develop a lasting friendship during a time when tensions are high between the two groups. The Redemption of Sarah Cain by Beverly Lewis would be a good bet for readers who are looking for another fast-paced book with a Christian theme that involves forgiveness, redemption, and a romance. It is about a woman who lives a busy, self-absorbed life until she is made the guardian of her late sister's children who have grown up in an Amish community. Readers might also want to try books by Lynn Austin in the Refiner's Fire series, beginning with Candle in the Darkness. These books also have a Christian theme, devoted believers, historical detail of the time surrounding the Civil War, and the exploration of issues relating to the tensions between the North and the South. They involve the stories of women around the time of the Civil War who each find themselves involved in different aspects of the war and who face issues surrounding the war, like slavery. If readers are looking to read another Christy award winning North American historical fiction, they should look at two-time award-winning author Lynn N. Austin, and her Civil War era winning novel Candle in the Darkness. Readers who enjoyed the interplay between plot and time period might enjoy the Christian classic Gates of Zion by Brock and Bodie Theone. Hard Winter at Broken Arrow Crossing by Stephen Bly where a cowboy is trapped in a small town for the winter might appeal to those who liked the small town of Helena in Edge of Honor. Finally, readers who enjoyed Eden and Hannah as strong female characters fending off nosey small-town gossip might enjoy Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns where a young boy witnesses the Southern town gossip against his recently re-married grandfather and spunky new wife.
Red Flags:
This book is Christian fiction, and non-fiction readers may find the strong Christian element a turn off. For Christian readers however, this book alludes to Quentin’s ability to heal by “laying on of hands”, a controversial practice among some Christian sects. Most of the characters attend Baptist churches and take council from a Baptist minister. There is implied violence during an early battle scene however the dust from the shelling clouds any description of violence or gore. Readers do experience the death of the Confederate solider up close; however his injuries are not described in any detail. His dying words involve cursing, when he tells Quentin to “go to hell”. There are also short descriptions of tumors, amputations, and other medical ailments in relation to Quentin’s role as a doctor, however they are not gory and SPOILER none of his beloved patients actually die.
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