charles frazier varina interview

The story of their meeting is somewhat hazy—Varina may have seen him being beaten on the street and taken him home, or her own sons may have known him from the little boys’ street gang they belonged to called the Hill Cats. With her marriage prospects limited, teenage Varina Howell agrees to wed the much-older widower Jefferson Davis, with whom she expects a life of security as a Mississippi landowner. I wanted quick shifts from scene to scene, place to place, time to time. Varina: The Consequences of Complacency Varina by Charles Frazier was chosen as a Group Read by members of On the Southern Literary Trail for August, 2018. ... Interview Highlights. What do you think Varina can contribute to these conversations? At this point he drops out of the historical record. Varina centers on an unexpected and controversial figure: Varina Howell Davis, wife of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy. by Charles Frazier ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 3, 2018 A new novel of the Civil War and its aftermath from the author of Cold Mountain (1997, etc.). My research process tends to be inefficient and intuitive, and a majority of the research I do never finds a place in the book. Varina looks back at seven or eight decades of American history from the perspective of the early 20th century, so one immediate problem was how to structure the story, how to order all that time. So, the events of the past few years—among them the violence of white supremacists in Charlottesville, the church shootings in Charleston, the national debate over Confederate flags and memorials—certainly shaped the book, especially as they emphasize the extent to which the history of our country is built around the armature of slavery and the Civil War, and how far we still are from putting those issues behind us. Along with personal affection for each other, they apparently saw their friendship as an emblem of national reconciliation. ... Interview Highlights. Why have you returned to this setting? Charles Frazier was done writing about the Civil War after his award-winning novel Cold Mountain . I read a great deal of primary sources—letters, journals, newspaper articles—and biographies, but eventually I have to step away from the foundational facts of history in order to find my fictional character. It’s important to remember how those monuments came to be where they are (or were, in a few cases). “—Oh, Mary said, life is mostly just what happens. Garden & Gun // The Best Books of 2018—So Far, Entertainment Weekly // The Complete Father's Day Book Gift Guide, Roanoke Times // Our Top Picks for Summer Reading. I became interested in imagining a life for that little boy, and in having him, as a middle-aged man, seek out Varina. The Buddhist suggestion that we should avoid despair or hope offers the beginning of an answer. ISBN Individual I think of historical fiction as a conversation between the present and the past, and Varina Davis’ life offered me a complex entry point into that dialogue. A 3-star book review. Varina. Fact versus fiction Q: How much of Varina Davis’ … ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our review of Varina. 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. After fleeing Richmond at the end of the war, Varina writes, “Head full of sorrow, heart full of dreams. 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. Ultimately, the book is a portrait of a woman who comes to realize that complicity carries consequences.

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