Varina knew the south was headed for disaster and was very opposed to the war. The book is about Varina not about slavery. 6 questions answered. or ask your favorite author a question with My impresson as a northerner was one of looking the otherway to the horrors. All rights reserved. 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. I don’t know if Varina was a big (user), but I do know Mary Chesnut was. There was no downtown then. Not a member? He has come to her for answers about his own identity, and she provides clues as she tells her story. She married Jefferson Davis when she was 18 and he was 37. 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.. Sooner or later, history asks, which side were you on? You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Our Reading Guide for Varina by Charles Frazier includes Book Club Discussion Questions, Book Reviews, Plot Summary-Synopsis and Author Bio. Varina Charles Frazier, 2018 Ecco Books 368 pp. Q: When Jefferson Davis learned that he had been appointed president of the Confederacy, he and Varina took the news with a sense of dread. She had family in the north and in the south. Varina, by Charles Frazier Charles Frazier, author of Cold Mountain, has released a new historical fiction about Varina Howell Davis, Jefferson Davis’ wife. He described the Gray House as being in downtown Richmond, which is where it is now, in the middle of MCV medical campus. In Varina's time that area was upscale residential near the state capital. Frazier, who won the National Book Award for his internationally bestselling debut novel “Cold Mountain” in 1997, has said that he believes events of the past few years have left America still searching for a resolution to issues concerning race and slavery. Varina's life is interesting but the structure of the book detracted from the story . For example, the way she suddenly left during her husband’s inauguration in Montgomery, with no explanation. Join the leading website for book clubs with over 35,000 clubs and 20,000 reading guides. 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. I found out that she had lived in London for some time, alone. She performed a lot of the conventional duties of a first lady but was constantly criticized by people in Richmond, for being too opinionated, too sharp-witted. Recommended to book clubs by 3 of 3 members. She viewed Ellen as her friend and was genuinely baffled and a bit hurt that Ellen didn't view her in the same way. There were some rocky periods, for sure, but divorce was out of the question. ISBN-13: 9780062405982 Summary Sooner or later, history asks, which side were you on? His new book looks at the Confederacy through eyes of Jefferson Davis' wife, Varina. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Q: Other characters in the book reveal much about Varina. She was the victim of slander and bullying. Interview by Jana Hoops. Tell me about their relationship. Their continued presence indicates how much the issues of the Civil War are like the armature inside a sculpture — baked into the framework of our country and our culture. Create a login & Join us! There were lots of separations — sometimes because of his work and sometimes because they were not getting along. He was appointed and inaugurated (as provisional president) in Montgomery, Alabama, (on Feb. 18, 1861) and was inaugurated again in Richmond (on Feb. 22, 1862) after he was actually elected to the post (in November 1861). Membership is free & gives you access to book giveaways, author chats & your private, free book club page. They're set in the South and in the same time period, but otherwise are completely different narratives. Historical fiction appeals to many people because they take for granted that it teaches them history but in a novel (as opposed to history book) form. 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. Both were depressed about it. She was always an outlier, not accepted in women's "society". He described the Gray House as being in downtown Richmond, which is where it is now, in the middle o…more Frazier also did not do his homework on Richmond. Recommended to book clubs by 3 of 3 members. He described the Gray House as being in downtown Richmond, which is where it is now, in the middle of MCV medical campus. Ultimately, the book is a portrait of a woman who comes to realize that complicity carries consequences. She did indeed feel that women's suffrage would have prevented the war. Varina was very well educated but realized bitterly the limitations society imposed on her as a woman. Members, please login. He described the Gray House as being in downtown Richmond, which is where it is now, in the middle o. Frazier also did not do his homework on Richmond. The Davis "plantation" was Jeff's brother's experiment in social harmony. Frazier’s other novels include “Thirteen Moons” and “Nightwoods.” A native of North Carolina, he still makes his home there. Q: Why did you choose Varina Davis to write about now — was it influenced by the efforts of some today to remove statues of Confederate leaders, including her husband Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy? They were actually based out of Butcher Hill, which was a grouping of shanties in the Shockoe Valley just below the bluff on which the Gray House stands. Yes, absolutely. Can this book be read as a stand alone or should Cold Mountain be read first? The book is about Varina not about slavery. Readers’ questions about Varina. 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. The year is 1906, and the story begins just weeks before her death at age 80, when she gets a surprise visit from a middle-aged African-American man she doesn’t recognize. Mary’s husband had important positions in the Confederate government (as an aid to the president and a brigadier general in the Confederate Army). I sincerely doubt that Varina ever saw the horrors of slavery. The story that (Varina’s friend) Mary Chesnut told was that Varina was riding through Richmond in a carriage and she witnessed the boy being mistreated and took him in; there is another story that there was a group of boys, including her sons, running around Richmond and they brought him home with them. © 2020 www.clarionledger.com. The (recorded) history of that child ends in 1865. The novel is crafted around the conversations of an aging Varina with a man she had apparently rescued as a child — a man she had not seen in 40 years. (All four of her sons had died young.) I was interested in the fact that she left Mississippi shortly after Jefferson Davis died and moved to New York City to become a newspaper writer when she was over 60 years old. Reader Q&A, But what if a book, billed as historica... (read more). I realize the story is about Varina but is there evidence of her confronting the peculiar institution? They met in Washington when each was 18 and their husbands were members of Congress. I think Varina lived in her intellectual ivory tower. 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. In “Varina,” a work of historical fiction, Frazier places the former first lady of what he refers to as the “imaginary country” at a health resort in Saratoga Springs, New York. He had always wanted to know his story, so different from hers in that she had benefitted from slavery her whole life. You didn’t need a prescription for laudanum (or tincture of opium) — it was the type of thing you could get at traveling medicine shows. Q: Do you have other writings in the works at this time, or ideas for your next project?
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