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Gail Combs Oglesby was born and raised in the western Detroit suburbs and lived for many years in California and Texas. She now calls suburban Nashville, Tennessee her retirement home which she shares with her husband and fur kids. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of San Francisco in Human Resources, as well as a Doctorate in Business Administration from California Coast University. For over thirty-five years, she worked in leadership roles in the Human Resources function in a variety of industries and from that experience published, HR Confidential: An Insider’s Guide to Finding and Getting a Great Job which can be found on Amazon.
When not working, the passion that has bewitched her for the last fifty years has been genealogy. Originally the spell was cast while trying to solve a family mystery, which took nearly forty years to uncover. Today, access to online databases and DNA has helped her, and thousands of others to make those connections to the past and Gail can often be found helping others with their search. Through that work, she deeply admired what our ancestors, especially the women, have endured so that we could be here today. Her mission is now to bring their experiences to life through her writing and celebrate the ordinary women whose accomplishments were anything but ordinary.
Reviewed by Carmen Tenorio for Readers' Favorite
Till I Come Home by Gail Combs Oglesby is the second book of The Centenary Chronicles, Tales of American Women series, and is set during the impending American Revolutionary War against the British occupation in the mid-1700s. It is the story of an American-born wife of an Englishman and mother to several children in 18th-century Boston, Massachusetts. Experiencing the tragedies brought about by the war and the snowballing resistance to authority hardened her resolve, albeit low-key, to strive for freedom, equality, and self-determination and to fight exploitation and injustice. Eliza was not a woman who cowered in fear or depended solely on prayers. She learned to handle a musket and took up arms to fight for what she believed was right and just. Her house is divided, and her loyalty tested, but her deep love for her spouse and children remains steadfast and unchanged until the very end.
One of the best ways to learn about history and remember it is by seeing how macro-level events personally affect the everyday lives and relationships of people as they go through the ordinary, micro-level situations of living. Author Gail Combs Oglesby has successfully done it in Till I Come Home. The Tales of American Women series aims to honor the contributions of ordinary women from the past, the political and cultural significance of their choices and actions, and how they influenced the present. She has skillfully combined several kinds of historical references and events as the reader becomes witness to a remarkable life. The author uses the first-person point of view of a wife and a mother who does her best to live through all the privileges, joys, and rewards as well as the struggles and challenges during a very difficult time in American history. It is Herstory more than anything else. The author's writing is smooth. The dialogue, emotions, and drama easily paint an image or scene in the reader's mind, remaining faithful to the era. The author includes both fiction and non-fiction characters and is good at creating seeds of conflicts that embroil the players and effectively uses them for character development. A highly recommended read for fans of historical fiction and drama.
