Charles Frazier returns to the territory of the Civil War and its aftermath in this new novel based on the life of Varina Howell who, still a teenager, married Jefferson Davis, a man more than twice her age who eventually became President of The Confederacy. Over the course of six Sundays in 1906 an elderly Varina tells her story to James Blake, the now middle-aged man who was once her adopted son until they were separated after the war. After the fall of the Confederacy Varina and her children flee Richmond and head south, hoping to reach Florida and from there Cuba. There are bounties on their heads and Varina and her family will pay a high price for being on the losing side of history.
Frazier’s portrayal of the feisty Varina sparkles, and the story of her flight through the rural south is both achingly beautiful and sad, as the consequences and destruction of the war are seen and met at every turn.
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