Across Five Aprils

Hunt situates the fictional story of the Creightons in the real historical context of the Civil War. All of the battles mentioned in the story are real battles in the Civil War, and many historical generals on both sides are also referenced, such as Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, and William Tecumseh Sherman. Other historical events referenced in the novel include President Abraham Lincoln’s offer of amnesty to deserters in March of 1863; his famous Gettysburg Address speech on November 19, 1863; his reelection in November 1864; and his assassination during the fifth April of the war, April 15, 1865.

Another historical reality mentioned in this book is the number of soldiers who deserted from the army. Desertion was common on both sides of the war, particularly in the later years; some estimates say that one in five Union soldiers deserted from their regiments while the numbers on the Confederate side were even higher. In the novel, the Creightons’ community is swarmed by a large number of desperate deserters, including Jethro’s cousin Eb. Although desertion was legally punishable by death, in reality, only 147 Union deserters were ever executed. Even before Abraham Lincoln’s declaration of general amnesty, many Union leaders preferred to entice soldiers back into service by offering amnesty, or punish them by branding them with a “D” rather than killing them (“Deserters in the Civil War.” TeachingHistory.org).

In Across Five Aprils, Hunt uses the realities of the Civil War to put her characters’ actions and motivations into perspective. The Civil War remains the most lethal American war ever fought, with an estimated 650,000 to 850,000 dead in total (Zeller, Bob. “How Many Died in the American Civil War?” History, 2023). Knowing the immense carnage that the war brought to America adds a layer of irony to certain early scenes in the novel, such as when Jethro’s older brothers speak eagerly of going to war or when civilians come out to watch the first battles as an entertaining spectacle.

As a work of historical fiction, the novel presents social and cultural conventions of the past that are no longer acceptable in today’s society. For instance, some readers may find the relationship between Jenny Creighton, who is 14 at the beginning of the novel, and the schoolteacher Shadrach Yale, who is 20, to be off-putting or unethical. Although the two don’t get married until Jenny is 18, an adult man showing romantic interest in a young teenage girl is not viewed favorably in today’s society. However, in the 1860s, their relationship would have been seen as socially acceptable. In most states, the age of consent (the age at which a person may legally consent to sexual activity) was 10 or 12 until 1880. That said, even at the time, it was unusual for a girl as young as Jenny to marry, as shown by the fact that Jenny’s father considers her too young.