Echoes by Sarah Lynn Morgan is as much a travel back in time as it is a fascinating life switch story. She had all the furnishings and nuances of history correct as far as I know. When Charlotte was at the dance, the young soldier asked if her "card" was filled for the dances. Young ladies of prominence had their evenings arranged with who they would social with and yes dance with beforehand. Thus the card and if it had some empty time for opportunity of a gentleman to ask the ladies hand for a dance.

After traveling by carriage, Annabel and her dad removed their "dusters". A kind of light overcoat to keep off the road dust the horses and carriage wheels kicked up. And John speaking in that slow southern drawl as the words are stretched out and softened.

It is almost impossible to describe in words the southern gowns of the era before the civil war. Yet Sarah did so exquisitely as she described the buttons on back (zippers weren't invented), the satin sash with the bow adjusted to the back of the dress, one more on the hat, and the lace on the sleeve saturated with perfume. Did you follow the tying of the strings of the petticoats at the waist? Elastic and spandex weren't sewn into the petticoats yet.

More than anything else, the historical details about the clothes and the locations of the soldiers brought the story to life. Left me wondering how many Sarahs are left who can retell the past with such accuracy? The girl obviously didn't pull the story up out of thin air or from what she learned in her school history lessons.

One didn't have to be raised in the south to be entranced by the telling of the tale. We can love the elegant gowns of the southern belles. They were of a beautiful time in our history.