On the Sixth Day - by Bud Lawrence (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

On the Sixth Day is an amazing historical fiction novel set at the time of the Civil War. Bud Lawrence does a wonderful job capturing the challenges and people of the time period. He writes about the unlikely friendship between Caleb, a white man, and William, a black man.

On the Sixth Day is a story that captures the godly truth that "On the sixth day, God created man in His own image and gave him dominion over the fish in the sea and the fowl of the air and over the cattle and over all the earth." (Genesis 1. 27-28) It begins as Caleb finds himself leaving his fallen partner in the war and says 'goodbye' to the Confederate Army. On his journey to finding his fallen partner's family, he meets William. Despite initial hostility between them, the two decide they will travel more safely together than separately. They begin their travels to central Florida to start new lives and find they have built a lifetime friendship as well.

Come, see how Bud Lawrence captives his readers to want to know more about the lives of these two men and the people they meet along the way and how they make a home and life for themselves in wild Florida many years ago.

Bud Lawrence is a Florida native who grew up listening to the tales of his grandfather about early Florida life. Tales of alligator hunts, rattlesnake roundups, moonshine stills, and The Seminoles fueled his interest in pioneer Florida. Bud's maternal grandparents were both born in Kissimmee, Florida. He has published one other novel about early Florida, 'The Savage Paradise" He lives in Daytona Beach and adds, as far north as I have, or will ever live.

Review Quotes

Title Information

On the Sixth Day

Bud Lawrence

A 2 Z Press LLC (348pp)

$16.99 paperback, $4.99 e-book

978-1-954191-70-9

April 18, 2022

Book Review

A confederate army deserter forges an unlikely friendship with a Black man in this novel set during the Civil War.

In 1864, Caleb 'Cal' Melton, is a member of the Confederate military who's been worn down by the grim wages of war. His friend and comrade in arms, Jim Sanders, just before he succumbs to his battle wounds, asks Caleb to travel to his home in Florida and deliver news of his death. Cal accepts the sad mission and decides to desert his post. While making his way to the Sanders' home, he encounters another lone traveler, a free Black man named William. At first, the two find themselves at loggerheads; Cal interprets William's objection to being called 'boy' ("I am no one's 'boy.' My name is William and remember that") as arrogance while William seems to assume Cal is just another White man assuming superiority. They decide to travel together, nonetheless, and it's an experience that challenges each man's opinions - a gradual process that author Lawrence depicts with intelligence. Overall, the author thoughtfully combines an eventful adventure story with social commentary, as begins as a chance meeting evolves into a business partnership that defies conventions of the times. On the Sixth Day is an often engaging and companionable novel that manages to delight and entertain as it raises provocative questions.