I killed a man the summer I turned thirteen. Thus begins C. S. Harris’s haunting, lyrically rendered tale of coming of age in Civil War–torn Louisiana. Eleven-year-old Amrie St. Pierre is catching tadpoles with her friend Finn O’Reilly when the Federal fleet steams up the Mississippi River in the spring of 1862. With the surrender of New Orleans, Amrie’s village of St. Francisville becomes frighteningly vulnerable between the last river outposts of Vicksburg and Port Hudson.
As cannons draw nearer and food, shoes, and medicines grow scarce, Amrie is forced to grow up fast. Her fateful encounter with a tall, golden-haired Union captain named Gabriel threatens to destroy everything and everyone she holds most dear, while women and children form fragile bonds to survive the depravations and dangers of war.
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A young girl’s coming of age amid the Civil War in Louisiana. Much of the setup centers on shortages, the roar of cannons, and a village made vulnerable after the fall of New Orleans. It emphasizes relationships among women and children left to face hardship and danger. The narrative appears to foreground moral complexity tied to Amrie’s encounter with a Union captain and the brutal realities of war.
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G-NRIS™ identifies Good Time Coming primarily as Historical Fiction, Coming of Age, and Family Saga. Its strongest themes include War and its impact, Coming of age, Survival and resilience, Moral complexity, and Friendship and bonds. Prominent narrative patterns include War-torn setting, Child protagonist, Loss of innocence, and Survival against the odds.
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