4 h 45 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 4 h 45 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What does a soldier owe his heart when duty already lays claim to his loyalty?
In A War-Time Wooing, Charles King brings courtship into the world of the American Civil War. Orders, rank and honor shape a soldier’s days. Yet love asks for another kind of attention: a young man must learn what a woman thinks, and what he owes her.
King writes with an army officer’s knowledge of military habits and a direct storyteller’s touch. Clear scenes and quick dialogue bring together the demands of service and the slower work of winning affection. Loyalty reaches beyond a side, a flag or a commander; it also becomes a question for the heart.
What you’ll discover
- Duty before desire Enter a soldier’s world, where orders and comrades’ opinions carry real weight.
- Courtship under war’s shadow Follow a romance whose tender concerns sit within the hard frame of war.
- The claims of loyalty Consider how devotion to military duty stands beside the claims of the heart.
- Honor close at hand Discover an army culture where a sense of honor cannot easily be set aside.
- A soldier’s storytelling Enjoy clear scenes, quick dialogue and a strong sense of place in King’s direct prose.
Who will love it
This book suits readers who enjoy a wartime love story with a mystery at its heart, who like letters, disguises and mistaken identities, and who want the camps and hospitals of 1862 told by a soldier.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Love begins before a meeting
- A small kindness opens a door
- Grief deepens an unseen attachment
- The real officer denies the letters
- Suspicion grows around a disguise
- Separate clues begin to connect
- Abbot chooses restraint over anger
- Honor depends on repeated choices
- Fragile trust guides the search
Who’s who
- Bessie WarrenA sunny-haired girl of eighteen who writes to a soldier she has never met and gives him her heart through his letters.
- Paul Revere AbbotA gallant Massachusetts officer from an old family who discovers that someone has been writing to a girl in his name.
- Doctor WarrenBessie's father, an ardent patriot who lost his son at Seven Pines and trusts the name of Abbot completely.
- Genevieve WinthropAbbot's proud, wealthy fiancée from Boston, who has been led to believe he has been disloyal to her.
- Colonel PutnamThe regiment's kind commander, who tries to protect both Abbot and the stricken doctor while hunting the culprit.
- HollinsThe regiment's missing quartermaster, poor and resentful, whose disappearance darkens every thread of the mystery.
- RixA surly, hunched teamster and former quartermaster sergeant who knows more about Abbot's affairs than he should.
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A War-Time Wooing in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
A War-Time Wooing
by Charles King · 1888
A girl in mourning writes to a soldier she has never met, and the man she loves does not know she exists.
Medium level2–5 hours to read2 languages
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In short
Would you give your heart to a man you have never met, knowing him only through letters and a photograph? That is the question at the center of A War-Time Wooing, a Civil War romance by Charles King, a career soldier who knew the army well.
A War-Time Wooing at a glance
- Reading time
- About 2 h 40 min2 h 10 min fast, 3 h 15 min slow
- Length
- 38,600 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1888by Charles King
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A parcel of knitted caps starts everything
The story begins with a small kindness. In the town of Hastings, a group of girls forms a Soldiers' Aid Society. They sew Havelocks, which are cloth covers for army caps, and add mittens, wristlets and knitted socks. Many girls slip a name and address into the parcel.
The parcel goes to a Massachusetts regiment. The adjutant acknowledges the gifts, then sends a numbered photograph of six officers after Bessie replies. Bessie Warren, the society's secretary, writes back. Beside the name of Second Lieutenant Paul Revere Abbot, the handsomest man in the group, the girls laugh and guess. Then they send a picture of themselves, with Bessie at its center.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1888
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 3 h 5 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
King, Charles. A War-Time Wooing. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-war-time-wooing.
King, C. (2026). A war-time wooing. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-war-time-wooing (Original work published 1888)
King, Charles. A War-Time Wooing. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-war-time-wooing.
@book{king2026wartime,
author = {King, Charles},
title = {A War-Time Wooing},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-war-time-wooing},
note = {First published 1888}
}
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What is A War-Time Wooing about?
It follows a girl named Bessie Warren who exchanges letters with a Massachusetts officer she has never met, only for Paul Abbot to deny writing them, which sets off a hunt for the truth during the autumn of 1862.
Who is Paul Revere Abbot in the book?
Abbot is a young lieutenant in a Massachusetts infantry regiment and later becomes a staff major. He comes from an old Boston family, is engaged to Genevieve Winthrop, and finds his name and photograph used in letters he never wrote.
Is A War-Time Wooing a true story?
No, it is fiction by Charles King, but it is set among real events of 1862, including Antietam, Stuart's raid and the army's movements in Maryland and Virginia, and it reflects the real custom of letters between soldiers and women.
The author
Charles King
1844–1933 · American soldier and writer
Charles King (1844–1933) was an American soldier and writer. The library has Rancho Del Muerto and Other Stories of Adventure, A War-Time Wooing and A Wounded Name.
More by Charles King
See all their booksMore like this
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