Product Description

Alice Bullock is a young bride whose husband, a Union soldier in the Civil War, leaves her on his Iowa farm with his formidable mother. Equally talented at quilting and gossip, Alice fills her letters to her sister with accounts of her daily life, from the local quilting bees, to the rigors of farm life, to the customs and restraints of small-town America. No town is too small, however, to escape intrigue and treachery, and when Alice finds herself accused of murder, she must rely on support from unlikely sources. Rich in details of quilting, Civil War-era America, and the hardships and rewards of a womans life in the 19th century, this is Sandra Dallas at her best.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #127102 in Books
• Published on: 2001-09-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780312283780
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Loyalty, trust and friendship are the themes of Dallas's (The Persian Pickle Club) cozy, suspense-driven epistolary novel, set during the Civil War. When her husband enlists as a Union soldier, teenage newlywed Alice Keeler Bullock must live on his family's Bramble Farm on the outskirts of Slatyfork, Iowa, with only her stern mother-in-law, Mother (Serena) Bullock, for company. Alice is lonely without the constant companionship of her sister, Lizzie, and their six younger brothers. She passes the time writing long, gossip-filled letters to Lizzie in Galena, Ill., and growing passionate about her quilting. Newly pregnant, Alice hopes that the baby will win over her fault-finding mother-in-law, but Alice doesn't make things easy for herself. She regularly boasts about her superior sewing skills, yearns aloud for fashionable clothing and speaks before she thinks. In other words, she is young and ignorant of the ways of the world, which leads to trouble with a Confederate sympathizer, Samuel Smead, who, encouraged by Alice's innocent flirtations, pursues her with an intensity that tarnishes her reputation. Meanwhile, Alice slowly makes friends with girls her own age, including Samuel's sister-in-law, Nealie, and a runaway mother, Annie, seeking shelter for herself and her blind daughter. As the story unfolds, secrets and mysteries abound, and Alice shares every joy and sorrow with her sister by letter, a credible narrative form except when Alice reproduces extended dialogue. The last third of the novel is a delicate balance between sentiment and tragedy; in some instances, the secrets spilled go over the top, with no adequate motives for why characters are so cruel. Alice is a feisty Northern counterpart to Scarlett O'Hara, however, and her irreverent humor and precise expression will keep readers entertained. First serial to Good Housekeeping; author tour. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-The significance of a planting of yellow tulips in an Iowa garden becomes evident at the end of this beguiling novel of the Civil War home front. Immature, overconfident, congenial, and flirtatious, newly wed 18-year-old Alice is left with her stern, repressive mother-in-law on a small farmstead when her husband Charlie "goes for a soldier." The book is comprised of the letters Alice writes to her sister over a period of three years to relieve her frustrations and to offer advice on fashion, love, and society. Alice is an outstanding quilter and each chapter is prefaced with a paragraph of information on quilting details. The letters take readers through wartime difficulties of isolation, food shortages, cruel gossip, loss of reputation, and the complexities of a small, closed community. Through the occasional letter from Charlie as he enters into Army life on the Union side, readers see the rigors of camp life, horrors of battle, and imprisonment in the notorious Andersonville prison camp. Alice's growth, brought about by these circumstances, is natural and understandable, as is the slowly emerging bond of affection between the young woman and her formidable mother-in-law. This unfolding maturity of insights lends realism to the light concerns of fashion, sociability, and other trivialities that engage interest in the opening pages.-Frances Reiher, Fairfax County Public Library, VA

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Fans of Dallas's previous novels (The Diary of Mattie Spenser) will not be disappointed here. Alice is a young woman whose husband of one year has just joined the Union army and left her alone with his forbidding mother on the family farm. Told in letters to her sister, Alice's story is at first one of everyday hardships and small triumphs but soon turns darker when she is suspected of murder. As an outsider who married into the small, tight-knit community of Slatyfork, she would have required much less than the suspicion of murder to turn her neighbors against her. Her one solace is quilting, and each chapter begins with an explanation of a quilting pattern that is then incorporated into the story. Day-to-day life during the Civil War is well represented, with the ever-present fear of looters, food shortages, and worry for the absent men. Above all, there is Alice, a plucky heroine if ever there was one, and readers will cheer her on. Those who enjoyed Jane Roberts Wood's The Train to Estelline (Univ. of North Texas Pr., 2000) and Robert Morgan's Gap Creek (LJ 9/1/99) should find plenty to satisfy here. Recommended for all public libraries.DWendy Bethel, Grove City P.L., OH
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Hoping For A Sequel
I have read all of Sandra Dallas' books (and have enjoyed them all) since finding a copy of "Buster's Midnight Cafe" at a used book shop many years ago. "Alice's Tulips" is a delightful book about women, friendship, quilting, the Civil War, and murder - although not necessarily in that order. When we first meet Alice, she is a newlywed who - since her husband has enlisted with the Union - has just moved from the city to live with her mother-in-law (Mother Bullock) in the farming community of Slatyfork. Even though the story is told in Alice's voice through letters she writes to her sister, Alice comes alive as a charming but flawed individual. At the beginning of the novel, she is vain, immature, quite a flirt, and not an entirely good judge of character. As the War continues, Alice must face a number of challenges and re-examine her relationship with Mother Bullock. It is their growing respect for each other which neither is willing or perhaps able to express that forms the core of the story. It was refreshing to read a novel where characters change and grow with such believability. Throughout the novel, a good deal of information is given about quiliting, which is Alice's passion - and her refuge. I read this novel aloud to my wife and we both agreed that are only disappointment was that it was too short. Hopefully Ms. Dallas will let readers know what happens to Alice and Charlie, Piecake and Harve, Annie and Joybell, and the irrepressible Miss Kittie.

Great book!!!!
Wow!! What a great book. I was rooting for Alice all the way! The book consists of letters Alice is writing to her sister during a 2 1/2 year time period that her husband Charlie is away fighting for the union in the civil war. It's amazing to see just how much young Alice grows up in those 2 1/2 years. Living with her mother-in-law, Alice starts out very prideful, wasteful, and immature, but by the end of the book she has grown so much, for the years were not easy on her. I highly recommend this book. A great read.

a disappointment
This is a story of Alice, the wife of a Union soilder and herstuggles during the Civil War. It is told in letter fashion. We(the readers) read the letters Alice has written to her sister over a 2 1/2 year period. I have read all of Sandra Dallas' works and this was a disappointment. It took story lines out of her other books and placed them in a Civil War setting. The "letters" included lengthy quotations of conversations and copies of other letters therefore making them unlikely to be in a letter. There were many explicit references to sex in the letters which were not necessary.It should have been written in a different format. The "letters" did not seem like letters. The characters could have been developed better. It was easy to guess the mystery and know what was going to happen next. I would suggest reading Dallas' other works and leaving this one on the shelf. Buster Midnight's Cafe, The Diary of Mattie Spencer and The Persian Pickle Club.