My love for Celia Garth extends almost thirty years (!) to when I pulled it off the shelf in my middle school library; even then it was thirty years old. I loved learning about the South during the American revolution as it never seemed to be covered in history.

Celia grows so immensely during this novel that it’s more than a coming of age, but we get to see her become a woman. I always liked that she didn’t have all the answers and was ok with that, and she was the first one I’d heard about living in the present from. This is definitely a nostalgia read for me as it also was the first time I saw it spelled out that there was a difference between being in love with someone and loving someone. ( )

1779, Charleston, South Carolina. America is at war with Britain. Celia Garth is an apprentice at a dressmaker's shop. She doesn't think much about the war. She wants fun in her life and to prove herself more skilled at her needle than what people think. When the war lands right in the middle of Charleston, Celia fights to survive heartbreak and destruction.

I first read this as a teenager and it is just as good as I remember it! Celia is a character I loved following. She is sassy, cheerful and fierce. When she knows what she wants, she does her best to get it. When things don't go her way, she finds a way to move on.

The setting of this story is spectacular. The author did her research and it shows. The details make everything that much better.

For fans of Revolutionary War romance with a smidge of adventure and intrigue, this would be a perfect choice. ( )

I loved this book! I first read it many, many years ago and was fascinated by the story. Set during the American Revolution, Celia Garth is the story of a young girl who becomes a participant in the fight against the British. Not only was I taken by a book that had a female heroine, many of the other women in the book were strong figures who took an active part in the fight for America's future. Add in the marvelous backdrop of Charlestown at war and I couldn't put the book down. I've read it several times and it remains an all-time favorite. ( )

I read this early on, in middle school - and loved it, both for the heroine (level-headed, sensible, patriotic and able to fall in love again after a shattering loss) and for the portrayal of Revolutionary-War era Charleston. And also - I took my pen-name partially from this book! ( )

I picked this up in a $1-a-bag sale at a local thrift store. I'm not sure why. Perhaps the cover caught my attention. Whatever the reason, I read the first page to see what it was about. Hours later, I realized I didn't want to put it down. Bristow deftly weaves the fictional story of Celia through the true strands of history - the Siege of Charleston, the terror of Tarleton, those who took the King's Oath and those who did not, those who received the houses of displaced patriots as rewards for service to the King - and what happened to those patriots. Bits of historical facts about culture and society gives the story a wonderful depth. And her characters - each is flesh-out, well-rounded, with flaws and depth and emotions. They feel real. They feel true. As if they might have really lived. The plot is a breathless - taking the reader through a gambit of emotion.
To anyone interested in American History, the Revolutionary War or Colonial Life, I highly recommend! ( )