Beneath Gray Skies [Hardcover]

The story's "what-if" premise of the the Southern States peacefully seceding from the Union in the 1860s and forming a separate nation called the Confederate States of America (CSA) and then some decades later forming an alliance with Nazi Germany is an interesting twist on history. However, the reader will have to take a leap from "what-if" to a suspension of disbelief if you are to enjoy "Beneath Gray Skies" by author Hugh Ashton. For example, you will have to believe that a nominally-educated male CSA "Negro" slave is freed as a result of a stereotypical racist incident and then - with no vetting or prior intelligence experience - is embraced by the British intelligence service as an instant colleague. In addition, you will have to believe that this former slave and a beautiful, white, Jewish female, a member of the American intelligence community, have an instant chemistry on first-sight and fall in love, resulting in the former slave marrying the woman and being warmly welcomed into the woman's socially- and politically-prominent and quite wealthy family and social circle.

Next, you will have to believe that a character named "David" - a private in what is described as the uneducated "white trash" Confederate Army - is discovered to have extraordinary aptitude for the game of chess - a game that he had never played before - said skill causing him to gain the notice of his superiors who, in turn, determine David also has extraordinary skills in calligraphy, the ability to read well, and even do "some calculating with figures," all of which lead David to an eventual rank of Sergeant and a key role with a group of Germans building a Zeppelin airdrome on Confederate Georgia soil.

Next is the enigmatic English hero, Brian, who darts in and out of the narrative with exploits of daring, deception, and spying in an effort to disrupt the CSA-Nazi alliance. Toss in a bunch of nasty Nazis and an equally nasty CSA President, a "save-the-world" United Kingdom intelligence service and its operative named "Dowling" (the former slave's original mentor), a plot to kill the bad guys, and it turns out that all's well that ends well.

The writing is adequate; however, with the exception of some British dialogue, the dialogue of most of the other characters too often lacked the ring of authenticity because what should have been dialects and idioms unique to those characters was lacking. Said another way, the drawl of the South and the unique syntax of German-to-English was missing.

Finally, I felt that the author also had a subtle and personal political and social agenda woven into the story - an agenda that can be explained best by reading both the author's preface to the first edition and his preface to the second edition.

A remarkable alternate history novel, my husband and I both enjoyed the way the storyline unfolded, and the clever twists in the plot. Most of the post Civil War novels in this genre operate on the premise that the South won the war. In this, Lincoln is too ill to be interested in fighting, so he just basically shoos the South away to mind their own business.

There is some good dialog and interesting tweaks in the historical timelines. I really liked Hugh's lines, for instance, about the Wright Brothers, who never worked in North Carolina, but instead took their business and their experiments to Ireland!

The inter-connectivity between the Nazis and the South is somewhat alarming and quite realistic. The battle to keep these two world powers separate and disconnected is the crux of the story.

Liked the details about the blimps (zeppelins)and what I perceived to be an undercurrent to modern times - - - "unholy alliances" between evil powers based purely on the availability of resources, whether they be money or helium!

The writing could have been a little tighter, and the characters perhaps could have been more finely tuned, but it was an enjoyable read that promoted some good conversation!

NOTE: I received a copy of this book from Member Giveaways on LibraryThing, and this review is posted both on LibraryThing and Amazon.

An interesting variation in the 'what if' genre. Because of Lincoln's incapacity due to illness after his inauguration, it was decided to let the Confederacy go its own way due to the expectation that it would soon collapse of its own weight. However this did not occur and by the 1920s it was still a slave-holding international parish seeking recognition and money for which it would exchange its agricultural and undeveloped natural resources. To President Jefferson Davis III, a man named Hitler could provide this in exchange for Confederate assistance in his attempt to take over Germany.

The resulting adventure is exciting and the ending satisfying albeit unforeseen by the Confederates or Germans. The only weak point was the occasional initial identification of the heroes by their 'slavery is evil and no one I know supports it' statements rather than just letting their actions speak for themselves.

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