When I first began writing The Virginia Governess, I kept coming back to one question: Can love survive war?
It’s a question as old as time itself. History is filled with couples who met, fell in love, and tried to build a future while the world around them was falling apart. During the American Civil War, those stories were everywhere, young women waiting on porches for news from the battlefield, soldiers tucking love letters into their haversacks before marching into the unknown, and families clinging to each other as cannons thundered in the distance.
For Charlotte “Lottie” Briggs, my heroine, that question defines her journey. She begins as a young woman in Virginia who dreams of escaping the danger and heartbreak of the war. When she accepts a position as a governess in Georgia, she doesn’t expect to fall in love with the man escorting her there, Lieutenant Joseph Carson. Their love story grows not in a time of peace and certainty, but in the middle of chaos, scarcity, and constant threat.
Love in Wartime Is Not Simple
What fascinated me in writing their story was the tension between hope and fear. Lottie and Joseph’s courtship isn’t like a quiet, easy romance in a parlor room. Every moment they share feels urgent because they don’t know what tomorrow will bring.
In Joseph’s letters, many of them inspired by real family correspondence, I tried to capture the way love becomes a lifeline during war. His words aren’t just sweet nothings. They are survival. They are a way of reminding Lottie that, no matter what happens on the battlefield, she is tethered to him by love.
And for Lottie, that love becomes both a comfort and a burden. She is constantly asking herself: What if he doesn’t come home? What if every letter is the last one I’ll ever receive?
The Strength of a War Bride
Another piece of this central question lies in the strength of women like Lottie. Many Civil War brides became widows before they were ever truly wives. They carried the unbearable weight of waiting, of hoping, and of surviving without the men they loved.
I wanted readers to feel the reality of that waiting, the sleepless nights, the daily work of teaching children or tending a household, all while listening for footsteps that might never return. For Lottie, love is not just romance; it’s endurance. It’s choosing to keep faith in Joseph even when doubt claws at her.
Why This Question Still Matters Today
Although The Virginia Governess is set in the 1860s, I think this question still resonates. Around the world, people are still separated by war, deployment, or crises beyond their control. The letters may have turned into emails, phone calls, or video chats, but the uncertainty is the same.
That’s why I believe stories like Lottie and Joseph’s still matter. They remind us that love isn’t just candlelit dinners or whispered promises. Sometimes love is the simple act of writing another letter, of holding on to faith when everything around you says to let go.
So, Can Love Survive War?
I’ll leave the full answer to those who read the novel, but I will say this: in my research and in the family stories that inspired this book, I found countless examples of love enduring through separation, sacrifice, and sorrow. Love may not always survive untouched, but it has an incredible way of bending without breaking.
For me, that’s the heart of The Virginia Governess. It’s not just about a governess and a soldier. It’s about how two people cling to each other when the world gives them every reason to fall apart.
And maybe, just maybe, it’s also about how we all look for hope in the darkest of times.
