With the second American Civil War as a backdrop to the story, we meet Hestia (named after a Greek goddess by her classics-educated parents). She is 42. The year is 2023 and the setting is Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States of America. The New Confederated States of America is comprised of 12 States which have seceded from the U.S. Rather than the Civil War being a military operation, more often it is a series of terrorist attacks of movie theaters and grocery stores, along with sabotage of water, sewer and power systems. The U.S. residents live with nightly curfews and U.N. Peacekeepers watching over them.
Hestia's husband, a Unionist like herself, has abandoned her to join a paramilitary group to fight against the confederates. He's been gone a while, and Hestia is finally thinking about trying to get a divorce.
Oddly, against the uncertainty of everyday life, Hestia's life is somewhat ordinary. She's a writer who works in a retirement community, where she is tasked with growing the community's online presence. She finds friends there, including her boss and her office mate, and with one of the residents in particular, a thrice-widowed woman named Mildred, who is a bit of a wild child. Mildred is always trying to get the details about the men that Hestia is dating or considering dating. Mildred is part of a group of residents that Hestia meets with regularly, to write out memories and opinions in answer to historical questions. As a bonus, we see the questions and their answers to the questions interspersed throughout the book.
Perhaps this book's storyline sounds depressing, but I thought it worked, and includes fine character-development and a slew of great details regarding war, dating, and life in general.
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