Book Spotlight: Nostalgia by Susannah Willey

 

🎖️ AWARD-WINNING HISTORICAL FICTION 🎖️

5-Star "Award of Excellence" - Historical Fiction Company

Before PTSD had a name, they called it "nostalgia"—and Dr. Jim Banyon was the only one who believed it wasn't cowardice.

1862: The Civil War rages, and Union Army surgeon Jim Banyon arrives on the battlefield hungry for glory. But bullets and cannon fire aren't the only killers stalking his hospital tent.

Soldiers return from combat with wounds that don't bleed—invisible scars the army dismisses as weakness. Jim recognizes what no one else will: these men are suffering from something beyond cowardice, a psychological trauma that's as deadly as any bullet.

When he dares to defend these "broken" soldiers, Jim faces an impossible choice:

Advance his career by staying silent...
Or risk everything to save the men nobody else believes are worth saving.

Based on the military service of the author's Civil War ancestors, NOSTALGIA is a gripping exploration of battlefield medicine, moral courage, and the invisible wounds of war that wouldn't have a name for another century.

Perfect for readers who love:
✅ Civil War medical history with psychological depth
✅ Moral dilemma fiction (conscience vs. career)
✅ Award-winning literary historical fiction
✅ Based-on-true-story military novels
✅ Character-driven war fiction that questions authority

For fans of: Charles Frazier's *Cold Mountain* + Geraldine Brooks' *March* + medical drama depth of *The Nightingale*

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Tackles the less explored emotional experiences of war with authenticity and heart."

📚 From the award-winning author of WAR SONNETS (2023 HFC Book of the Year, Bronze Award Winner for General Fiction)

Discover the untold story of Civil War "nostalgia"—the 19th-century term for what we now call PTSD.

 

Buy Links:

 Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/bQL1BD

 Author Website Universal Link: https://utterloonacy.com/books-2/nostalgia/

  

Susannah Willey is the award-winning author of War Sonnets (July 2023, Utter Loonacy Press). Awarded a five-star “award of excellence” by the Historical Fiction Company, War Sonnets was also awarded third place in the General Fiction Category of its 2022 Book of the Year awards.

Susannah Willey was born in 1952 in the small town of Ira, New York where her family settled over 200 years ago. She received a degree in Instructional Computing from SUNY Empire State College in 1998 and a degree in Instructional Design from Boise State in 2002. She and her partner make their home in Central New York in the foothills of the Adirondacks. A baby-boomer and a first-generation computer geek, nature photography and hiking are among her passions and, like all good grannies, she knits.

Susannah loves to tackle the less explored emotional experiences of war. Her rich family history often serves as the foundation for her historical novels. Her first novel, War Sonnets, was inspired by poetry written by her uncle about his experiences in the Pacific War during WWII. Her latest novel, Nostalgia, follows a Civil War surgeon and is loosely based on the military service of two ancestors. Nostalgia was short-listed for the Historical Fiction Company’s 2025 Book of the Year.

Stay connected with Susannah—and stay informed about special deals, giveaways, new releases and other fabulous reader perks—by subscribing to her blog at Utterloonacy.com

Author Links:

Website: https://utterloonacy.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susannah.willey.1

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susannahwilley/

Threads: https://www.threads.com/@susannahwilley

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/susannahwilley.bsky.social

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/barbbittel/

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/susannah-willey

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Susannah-Willey/author/B0C349ZF1V

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/32210037.Susannah_Willey

 

 If you enjoy discovering new stories, you may also like The AnaRose Chronicles—a trilogy of award‑winning adventure novellas. https://books2read.com/u/4jzKAY

 

 

Book spotlight: Georgia's Folly by Deborah Chase

 

For fans of "Antiques Roadshow" and "American Pickers" - this is the one for you!

Beginning at a cluttered flea market and ending at a glittering art auction, Georgia’s Folly tells the compelling story that blends past and present and the search for a valuable and elusive antique. Chloe Bishop grew up in foster care. She loves shopping at flea markets, picking up family heirlooms like old pottery or vintage furniture to fill in for the family and home she never had.

As Chloe walks through the Brooklyn Flea Market, she stumbles upon the diary of Miss Georgia Potter, a young woman who had lived in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania during the Civil War. The yellowed pages reveal the impact of the war on daily life and spotlights the role of women including Harriet Tubman, Clara Barton and Louisa May Alcott. 

 Like Chloe, Georgia Potter was a passionate collector and her diary lists her collection of valuable antiques—including the Holy Grail of 18th century furniture—a Chippendale settee. Well versed in antiques, Chloe is aware that there are only five known examples and a sixth settee would be worth more than $4 million.

Chloe immediately contacts Ben Thompson, the man who sold her the diary. Ben is a picker who drives his RV across America, searching for collectibles to sell to dealers. He is estranged from his wealthy, prominent family who cringe at his chosen career. Ben agrees to take her along to search for the valuable and iconic settee. As Ben and Chloe head to Gettysburg, they are unaware that Gregor Petrov, a shady antiques dealer and Harrison Kent, a respected but unscrupulous art expert are trailing them.

The search for the settee takes Chloe and Ben on fast paced journey from the Gettysburg battlefields to the 18th century street of artisans in Philadelphia to a historic mansion on the banks of the Hudson River. Traveling together in the small RV, Ben and Chloe draw closer. In the confines of the RV, embroiled in an unimaginable quest, Chloe confides that she is also in search for the father she never knew while Ben struggles to explain his complicated family to a woman who never had one.

In a thrilling ending, the rare Chippendale settee is not Chloe’s only valuable discovery.

  Buy Link: 

 Universal buy link: https://books2read.com/u/4DkY0g

 

Deborah Chase grew up in a family filled with art and antiques.  On the high end, her uncle, William Lincer, lead violist at the New York Philharmonic, was an art lover whose collection was sold at Sotheby’s. On the low end, her father, writer Allen Chase took her to flea markets and estate sales.  He sparked a lifelong fascination with tales of lost treasures that ranged from plundered Egyptian tombs to trainloads of art stolen by the Nazis.  It was this love of history and antiques that inspired her first novel, Georgia’s Folly

She was a founding editor of the Berkeley Wellness Newsletter and the author of 12 books including The Medically Based No-Nonsense Beauty Book (Alfred Knopf), Extend Your Life Diet (Pocket Books), Fruit Acids for Fabulous Skin (St Martin’s Press), Every Bride is Beautiful (Morrow), and with her husband Dr Neil Schachter co-author of Life and Breath (Doubleday) and The Good Doctor’s Guide to Colds and Flu (Harper).  The books have been a selection of the Book of the Month Club and her articles have appeared in Ladies Home Journal, Self, Glamour, Redbook, Family Circle, Parents and Good Housekeeping.

She is a graduate of Bronx High School of Science and a winner of the Westinghouse Science Talent Search. A graduate of New York University she earned a degree with a duel major in journalism and history. 

A native New Yorker, Deborah like to spend her weekends at an upstate home where a big kitchen and an endless supply of estate sales indulge her duel passions for cooking and collecting.

Author Links:

Website: Deborahchase.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deborah.chase.5

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewritinglife2/

AmazonAuthor Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Deborah-Chase/author/B0DHHK95KV

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/536062.Deborah_Chase

 

Book Spotlight: The Shire’s Union Trilogy: Whirligig, The Copper Road, Tigers in Blue by Richard Buxton

 Shire leaves his home and his life in Victorian England for the sake of a childhood promise, a promise that pulls him into the bleeding heart of the American Civil War. Lost in the bloody battlefields of the West, he discovers a second home for his loyalty.

Clara believes she has escaped from a predictable future of obligation and privilege, but her new life in the Appalachian Hills of Tennessee is decaying around her. In the mansion of Comrie, long-hidden secrets are being slowly exhumed by a war that creeps ever closer.

The Shire’s Union trilogy is at once an outsider’s odyssey through the battle for Tennessee, a touching story of impossible love, and a portrait of America at war with itself. Self-interest and conflict, betrayal and passion, all fuse into a fateful climax.

Written by award-winning author Richard Buxton, the Shire’s Union trilogy begins with Whirligig, is continued in The Copper Road, and concludes with Tigers in Blue.

 Buy Links:

 Universal Buy Links for individual titles:

 WG:    https://books2read.com/u/3GP7AO

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/whirligig-richard-buxton/1130891070

TCR:   https://books2read.com/u/b5JRvR

TIB:     https://books2read.com/u/mVnXaA

 Trilogy Amazon Buy Links:

 US:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08CDXDZDB

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08CDXDZDB

 

Richard lives with his family in the South Downs, Sussex, England. He completed an MA in Creative Writing at Chichester University in 2014. He has an abiding relationship with America, having studied at Syracuse University, New York State, in the late eighties. He travels extensively for research, especially in Tennessee, Georgia and Ohio, and is rarely happier than when setting off from a motel to spend the day wandering a battlefield or imagining the past close beside the churning wheel of a paddle steamer.

Richard’s short stories have won the Exeter Story Prize, the Bedford International Writing Competition and the Nivalis Short Story Award. His first novel, Whirligig (2017) was shortlisted for the Rubery International Book Award. It was followed by The Copper Road (2020) and the Shire’s Union trilogy was completed by Tigers in Blue (2023). To learn more about Richard’s writing visit www.richardbuxton.net.

 Author Links:

 Website: https://www.richardbuxton.net/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RichardBuxton65

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShiresUnion

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/richardbuxton63

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/richard-buxton

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/author/B06XV3FYQF/about

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16673953.Richard_Buxton

Book Spotlight: The Lost Women of Mill Street by Kinley Bryan

 

1864: As Sherman’s army marches toward Atlanta, a cotton mill commandeered by the Confederacy lies in its path. Inside the mill, Clara Douglas weaves cloth and watches over her sister Kitty, waiting for the day her fiancé returns from the West.

When Sherman’s troops destroy the mill, Clara’s plans to start a new life in Nebraska are threatened. Branded as traitors by the Federals, Clara, Kitty, and countless others are exiled to a desolate refugee prison hundreds of miles from home.

Cut off from all they've ever known, Clara clings to hope while grappling with doubts about her fiancé’s ambitions and the unsettling truths surrounding his absence. As the days pass, the sisters find themselves thrust onto the foreign streets of Cincinnati, a city teeming with uncertainty and hostility. She must summon reserves of courage, ingenuity, and strength she didn’t know she had if they are to survive in an unfamiliar, unwelcoming land.

Inspired by true events of the Civil War, The Lost Women of Mill Street is a vividly drawn novel about the bonds of sisterhood, the strength of women, and the repercussions of war on individual lives.

 

Buy Link:

 Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/lostwomenofmillstreet

 

Kinley Bryan's debut novel, Sisters of the Sweetwater Fury, inspired by the Great Lakes Storm of 1913 and her own family history, won the 2022 Publishers Weekly Selfies Award for adult fiction. An Ohio native, she lives in South Carolina with her husband and three children. The Lost Women of Mill Street is her second novel.

Author Links:

Website: https://kinleybryan.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kinleybauthor

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KinleyBryanWrites

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kinleybryanauthor/

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/kinley-bryan

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Kinley-Bryan/author/B09J5GWDLX

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21892910.Kinley_Bryan