In some ways, this is a typical Beatty novel. The main character, Hannalee, is Beatty's usual strong-willed, spunky heroine. The plot involves her traveling through a war-torn land. Beatty's novels feature many heroines like Hannalee and many plots involving travel from one place to another. The strong female characters reflect Beatty's desire to show what women can do in a crisis, and the traveling allows her to present a history lesson on some part of the world, usually in Europe or the United States. None of this is necessarily bad; young people seem to love both her characters and her plots. Beatty focuses on the lives of ordinary people and provides a wealth of historical detail that makes the past come alive. Turn Homeward, Hannalee provides a downto-earth look at what the Civil War meant to many ordinary people in the Confederacy.

The dialogue is smooth...