Official Review: Lee's Folly by John Good

[Tanaya]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Lee's Folly" by John Good.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Lee’s Folly is a historical novel by John Good. The story begins in April 1863. General Robert E. Lee is informed that the North is in possession of 46 million in gold. He sends General Jeb Stuart to steal the gold off of a train. Even though this is achieved, the gold ends up being buried in a secret location. The story fast-forwards to modern times. Earl Atwood lives in a small town in North Carolina. He is a descendant of a Confederate soldier. When Earl is looking for things to sell, he looks through an old trunk in his house and comes upon a book filled with clues leading to the gold. He enlists the help of Brian, his brother-in-law. The two set out on an exciting adventure that changes their lives forever.

The chapters are very short, and the book is separated into several parts. These parts typically alternate in time, going back and forth from the Civil War to modern day. Throughout the story, new characters and subplots are introduced to show the conflict from different perspectives. When this occurs, there are some long descriptions. In many cases, the background information could have been shortened. Even so, these side stories were really interesting and did connect to the overall plot in some way. The non-linear narrative and abundance of characters work surprisingly well. The structure keeps varying layers of the story separate but connected at the same time. It’s not difficult to keep track of the many plot threads. This was the most impressive aspect of the book.

Many of the characters speak with Southern accents that are easy to read and understand. The characters are driven by the desire to complete whatever their mission may be and at whatever cost. There is some light humor that pokes fun at conceptions about race and gender during the 19th century. This is paralleled by similar conceptions that still exist today. The characterizations of Earl and Brian’s wives were disappointing. They are presented more so as props rather than as actual people. They don’t have much dialogue (if any) and their main purpose seems to be getting kidnapped. I couldn’t tell if the author did this to make a point, or if they were simply underutilized.

There are a lot of recurring grammatical errors in the story, outside of the dialogue. This included missing punctuation, mixing up similar words, and unnecessary capitalization. Such errors became rather distracting over time.

I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. The author took a well-known subject and impressively created a fascinating tale of his own. While I typically don’t like stories that jump around in time and between characters, these elements were well executed in Lee’s Folly. I wouldn’t recommend this book to readers who have little interest in the Civil War. I would recommend it to history buffs that are excited by the idea of treasure hunts.

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Lee's Folly
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Like Tanaya's review? Post a comment saying so!

[Kappy]

Excellent, thorough review. But why did they steal the gold and then bury it? Didn't they want to use it to help finance their army?

[cjohnson5]

The rains in the area(an historical fact) during the Gettysburg campaign made roads that normally would be able to handle the heavy gold, swamps. Rather than steal the gold and simple leave it in the hands of the Union, Stuart opts to bury it with hopes of returning at a later date to retrieve it. A later date that never comes.

[gali]

Sounds interesting! Thank you for the great review.

[bookowlie]

Nice review! The premise of the story sounds interesting. I like books that have short chapters; it makes the book move along faster!

[B3cca 3ll3r]

Great review Tanaya! After reading the review this book probably won't be one I'll read really soon but it sounds really interesting! It sounds like John Good did a great job taking a huge subject and making it a lot more understandable. Good job everybody!

[zeldas_lullaby]

Great review!

[Tanaya]

Thanks, everyone!

[HalcyonFlower]

Thank you for the review I just saw the El Dorado Exhibit at the museum and it's put me in the mood of reading related novels or ones to do with gold. This will sit in the maybe pile though.

[Cee-Jay Aurinko]

Oh my - a treasure you say. I would love to read this, even though what you mentioned about Earl and Brian's wives' being weak does make me a bit hesitant. Outstanding review, Tanaya. Love the summary and the critique.

[Tanaya]

Thanks! That aspect did make me cringe a little, but it also made me think critically about female representation in a male-dominated story.

[Cee-Jay Aurinko]

Hey, I was just thinking. Do you know of any books where the roles are reversed? I can only think of a few cartoon shows. Not sure if it's Wonderwoman or not.

[Tanaya]

I was actually doing some casual research on the topic of feminist utopias several months ago. I forgot all about this. One of the most popular examples of the genre is Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. I never ended up reading the books I discovered. Now I think I should!

[kimmyschemy06]

I love treasure hunts and I have read some books about the Civil War so I think I'm going to love this book if I get the chance to read it. Great review!

[Tanaya]

Yeah, it sounds like the book for you. And thanks!