Book Summary and Reviews of Varina by Charles Frazier

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Mary

Varina review
I enjoyed the presentation of history and the characters as they were developed in Varina. The pre and post Civil War south, its politics and people, its industry and commerce were defined from an individual's perspective - the wife of Jefferson Davis. The author also brought the reality of a "southern society life" for a young woman -partly privileged and yet controlled and disenfranchised. I realize that Frazier could not and did not cover all the horrible aspects of slavery and the war, but gave an excellent picture of one (albeit fictional) individual's experience.

Margottu

Deep, revealing, beautifully written
An excellent read about a time and place I knew so little about but always wondered. What happened to the South directly after the war, how did the citizens feel, what about the Confederate leaders?

Cathryn Conroy

Ingeniously Plotted, Lyrical Language…But the Storyline Is Confusing and Can Be Difficult to Follow
This is the elegiac story of people living in and somehow surviving the perilous crisis, conflict, and calamity in the days, weeks, and years following the end of the American Civil War. But what makes this particular tale unique is that it is told through the eyes of one woman: Varina Howell Davis, the wife of Jefferson Davis, who served from 1861 to 1865 as the only president of the Confederate States of America. Varina's life was filled with tragedy, including the death of several of her children, a conflicted marriage fraught with extreme challenges, years of homelessness, and financial ruin.

Ingeniously plotted, this book by Charles Frazier is divided into seven chapters with each one beginning on a Sunday in 1906 in Saratoga Springs, New York as Varina, or V as she is known, meets in a hotel lobby with a black man named Jimmie Limber. Jimmie, who was an orphan of mixed raced parentage, was a very young child when V found him being beaten on a street by a black woman. She grabbed him and took him home where she raised him with her own children. Varina and Jimmie haven't seen each other in decades, and the narrative is organized around these Sunday meetings in which V tells Jimmie what happened during and immediately after the Civil War. The gist of it is that V fled Richmond as it burned, heading for Havana, but a horse-drawn wagon laden with children and a few accompanying men for protection is a slow and dangerous way to get to Cuba. The refugees, who felt more like fugitives, traveled through the Southern states that were still reeling from General Sherman's fiery march. Rumor had it they were carrying massive amounts of gold and silver, which made them vulnerable targets by desperate people.

The writing is beautiful, nearly lyrical, and the story really is fascinating. But reading this book can be challenging: The plot bounces around in time so much that sometimes it can be difficult to follow. This is one of those books where I had to pay full attention at all times, and even then I frequently reread sections for a full or better understanding.

BeckyH

I should have loved it!
The person is eminently interesting – the wife of the Confederate President. The era is interesting – the decades before, during, and after the American Civil War. The episodes are fascinating – a Southern white woman raising an enslaved child as her own: the escape of fugitives in a devastated land: the marriage of a 17 year old to a 40 year old. So why didn’t I like it?

The episodes are just that – episodes that jump from decade to decade with no cohesion. The story is not a story – there is no plot. The tempo and pacing are erratic at best.

BUT… the writing is wonderful. The conclusions are insightful. The characters are real and well presented.

YOU might like it. I didn’t.

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