Family ties, love, maintaining connections, resources, political power dynamics and more link these two superficially different books, nonfiction versus fiction, historical fact versus futuristic speculation. These letters record, examine, testify, process, implore, admonish, celebrate the breadth of human experiences. I Can’t Wait to Call You My Wife, African American Letters of Love and Family in the Civil War Era by Rita Roberts non-fiction history Chronicle Books, October 18, 2022 https://www.chroniclebooks.com/products/i-cant-wait-to-call-you-my-wife?_pos=1&_sid=521df2c94&_ss=r In the acknowledgments the author expresses her intention to use “letters to provide a more real and personal understanding of the past” in order to share the history of African American experiences with non-academic audiences. She achieves that goal. Images, maps, newspapers, pamphlets, portraits, handbills, and marriage licenses support detailed historical facts animated by the intimate wr