2004 News Archive

Civil War novel Voices wins Harbor House's Golden Eye award

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Voices Over Water, South Carolina author Ann Herlong-Bodman's stirring novel about a courageous female spy during the Civil War, is the recipient of the 2004 Golden Eye Literary Prize.

Offered annually, the award commemorates the literary legacy of Georgia-born novelist Carson McCullers, author of Reflections in a Golden Eye, and honors works of extraordinary literary value and dramatic quality.

The setting for Voices Over Water is Edisto Island, a remote barrier island on the South Carolina coast, where a young white plantation owner's daughter, Sarah Edings, returns home after the Yankees have taken over. In her quest to serve the Cause, Sarah becomes a double-agent and starts a school for freed slaves to help conceal her subterfuge.

"This is not only an entertaining novel about the Civil War, it is also a compelling
story that focuses on an aspect of our past almost forgotten - that of the Freedman's Bureau and efforts to bring education to newly-freed black children," said Marketing Director Carrie McCullough. "This was a natural selection for the award; Ann Herlong-Bodman combines historical accuracy and an educator's struggles, something she is very familiar with after having taught at the secondary and college levels."

Booklist calls Voices Over Water "… a spellbinding tale of love, deception and loyalty
set along the Carolina coast during the Civil War… Layered with drama and romance, this tautly constructed period piece features a multidimensional heroine a la the best-selling Cold Mountain."

A retired teacher and professor, Ann Herlong-Bodman now lives with her husband
on a barrier island near Charleston, South Carolina, where she is working on her
next novel.

For more information, please contact Carrie McCullough, associate publisher, at carriemccullough@bellsouth.net or (706) 738-0354.