Tom and his historical novel, The Woman She Left Behind, is interviewed by host Don McCauley. www.TheAuthorsShow.com Available on popular podcast platforms: Spotify, iHeart radio, YouTube, Pandora, etc.

"Tom Huggler's The Woman She Left Behind is exactly what historical fiction ought to be. A mature novel for the intelligent reader. It's a powerful story of human desires and connections in a historical setting that's rendered with loving attention to small details as well as the overall feel of the era. It's a story everyone should read … Highly recommended.  

 

At the end of the fictional narrative is a long, informative author's note in which Huggler tells about the process of researching Rachel's story and converting it to a novel. Huggler tells of his own 21st-century journey across the same landscape Rachel traversed more than 150 years ago.  It's a great piece of travel writing appended to a wonderful historical novel. The author's note alone is worth the price of the book."

 

Larry F. Sommers, author of The Price of Passage and Izzy Strikes Gold! 

 

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"This is an AMAZING new biographical novel! I could not put it down. Huggler's fine writing helps us feel as if we, too, are making the journey. I'm so glad I did!"

 

Christine DeSmet

 

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"Tom is a wonderful storyteller. I literally could not put it down!"

 

Melody Rogers

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"Tom Huggler did extensive research to create this fictional version of a real journey - and tells about that process after the story. However, as I read the novel, that research simply created the background and situational details. It never got in the way of a plot that kept me turning pages as new obstacles arose for a Civil War mother making a solo journey to bring her son home - sick, wounded, or dead.

 

While there is plenty of action, she also does, indeed, leave the woman she was behind. Tom did a masterful job of presenting Rachel Barnum's inner conflict. In modern parlance, she is out of her comfort zone, a nineteenth century woman traveling alone into a war zone, having to find ways to accomplish her goal of finding her son. This leads to introspection and, out of necessity, changes in her behaviors. I'd like to believe his fiction is close to the truth of Rachel Barnum.

The writing and editing were excellent, definitely professional quality."

 

Sheri McGuinn - I Write (on Substack)