Varina A Novel
Varina A Novel by Charles Frazier, published by HarperCollins on April 16, 2019, is a reprint edition comprising 368 pages. This novel explores the tumultuous period of the Civil War through the life of Varina Howell, who marries the much-older Jefferson Davis, expecting a secure life as a Mississippi landowner. Instead, she finds herself at the center of a national crisis as her husband becomes president of the Confederacy, leading to her entanglement in the chaos and devastation of the era.
Readers will find an intimate portrayal of Varina’s tragic life as she navigates the collapse of her marriage and the disintegration of the Confederacy. The narrative follows her desperate escape from Richmond, Virginia, with her children, now fugitives pursued by a divided nation. This historical and biographical fiction delves into themes of complicity and consequence, offering a detailed observation of one woman’s experience during one of America’s darkest moments.
Official synopsis Publisher
Sooner or later, history asks, which side were you on?
In his powerful new novel, Charles Frazier returns to the time and place of Cold Mountain, vividly bringing to life the chaos and devastation of the Civil War
Her marriage prospects limited, teenage Varina Howell agrees to wed the much-older widower Jefferson Davis, with whom she expects the secure life of a Mississippi landowner. Davis instead pursues a career in politics and is eventually appointed president of the Confederacy, placing Varina at the white-hot center of one of the darkest moments in American history–culpable regardless of her intentions.
The Confederacy falling, her marriage in tatters, and the country divided, Varina and her children escape Richmond, Virginia, and travel south on their own, now fugitives with “bounties on their heads, an entire nation in pursuit.”
Intimate in its detailed observations of one woman’s tragic life, and epic in its scope and power, Varina is a novel of an American war and its aftermath. Ultimately, the book is a portrait of a woman who comes to realize that complicity carries consequences.
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