Varina: A Novel Hardcover – Deckle Edge, April 3, 2018

Full disclosure.....I am a "Damn Yankee". I don't get called that much anymore but I heard it a lot in the first few years I moved to Virginia. It never hurt my feelings, if that was the intent. I am also an avid history buff. I watch the History Channels and the Smithsonian Channel. I also like to read historical fiction. I enjoyed Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain. I liked the play on Homer's The Odyssey. When I saw that Frazier had a new book coming out called Varina I thought it might be about Varina, Virginia, a town outside of Richmond, so I pre-ordered it without reading the jacket. But that's not at all what Varina is about. Shame on me, a fan of history, not familiar with Varina Davis, wife to Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy. I wondered why Frazier would pick Varina as the topic of his next book, was she controversial? Did she have differing views from her husband on the Civil War? I was intrigued. Before I go much further let me explain the spelling of her name is VARINA but it is pronounced with an E not an I sound. It is supposedly well known that the pronunciation of her name brought her great dissatisfaction and she would often times spell it out for people as: Vareeeeeeena.....The book description is a bit deceiving as the story follows the conversations between Varina Davis and a man named James Brooks. James believes himself to be Jimmie Limber, one of the people mentioned in a book he had recently read. Jimmie Limber was an African American child who lived with the Davis family in Richmond, VA during the Civil War. As the story goes, Varina Davis saw Jimmie being beaten on the side of the rode by an African American woman. She stopped her carriage, ended the beating, and took Jimmie home with her. It is unclear what exactly the relationship was between Jimmie and the Davis's but many accounts say that Jefferson Davis had Jimmie declared a freed slave, raised him with his own children, and after being separated after the war Jefferson never stopped looking for the boy. James Brooks has vague memories of his childhood and is hoping that Varina will be able to answer questions and fill in the blanks. The book follows a series of meetings between Varina and James.Throughout the story you not only learn about James/Jimmie but you learn about Varina's background, her upbringing, how she and Jefferson met, what their life was like before secession, and what their life was like after the Civil War ended. One of the reasons it takes me so long to read a historical fiction is due to all of the fact checking I do while I read. For example, Frazier mentioned that James Buchanan may have had a male companion named William King, who happened to have served as Vice President of the United States. I didn't know anything about President Buchanan so I did a bunch of research and found him to actually be quite an interesting man with quite an interesting story. But in doing research you also discover discrepancies between Frazier's stories and other stories regarding Varina Davis's life. History being what it was during the 1800's we may never know whole truths. Back then they didn't have the internet, Facebook, or blogs to write down every little event that happened to a person that day. Unless you found a diary that the person left behind you may never truly understand what happened and even with a diary you are left with only that individual's interpretation of the event.One thing I did take away about Varina Davis was that if she was a woman in today's world I think she would have been very vocal, very pro-woman's rights, and probably very powerful. She was not a stupid woman. She had been educated and loved to read. She and I may have been kindred spirits in another life. There are some differing opinions on what she thought about slavery. There are conflicting comments made by her about a woman's right to vote. I think she was very much a politicians wife and spoke to her audience. She told people what they wanted to hear.The Davis family is buried at the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, VA. The cemetery is a bit of a tourist attraction and I have toured the cemetery twice. I will most likely go again in the near future to view the place that Varina has been laid to rest. If what Frazier wrote about Varina's feelings and Richmond are true then I wonder if she can ever rest in eternal peace forever in a city she did not care to return to.If you are interested in learning more about Varina Davis I highly recommend this UTube video:Varina Davis, Southern Woman and Civil WarCover Design - 4.0All of Charles Frazier's cover's are works of art. Sometimes when I am driving around Virginia and the mist is settling over the landscape I am often reminded of his covers. It gives me a sense of peace.Grammer - 4.5Beautifully edited.Plot - 4.0I originally questioned this topic and this individual as the main character but what an interesting perspective on a piece of history that has been written so many times before. The division of our country from the perspective of a woman. A voice that had little to no platform in the 1800's. I think you soon discover that she was a woman with her own thoughts and belief system. She didn't care what society thought; she was going to do what she was going to do. A question that I have, and unless we discover hidden diaries or documentation we will never have the answer to (or maybe if we learn to time travel), how could the Davis family own people, it is well documented that Jefferson Davis felt that people could be possessions, and still they found a kindness in their hearts to save a boy being beaten on the side of the road. Jimmie Limber was no different than the slaves who worked the Davis plantation. I struggle with the thinking or logic behind the topic.Believability - 4.0It's historical fiction so there are quite a large number of historical facts. With that being said I think Frazier had many different variations of history offered to him to use and he used those that best fit his story. Not everything in the book is true and not everything is necessarily accurate. Obviously the dialogue is fiction but the events are real.Ending - 4.5The book had closure. You know what her life was like at the end. You know where she ended up. I don't feel a need for a second installation. I do feel a need to understand a woman's perspective on the Civil War a little bit more.Price Value - 4.0I think the story was well written and well worth the price. I am all about the deal so doubt if you put this book on your wish list, in a couple of years the book with go on sale.Overall - 4.5I enjoyed parts of this story. No lie I struggled. Besides the huge amount of time I spent doing my own research it took longer than normal to read this book because I would get angry with a topic and have to put it down. I would recommend this book because I think it is delving into an area that is beginning to emerge which is all about women in general but southern women more specifically. In life we need to be pushed beyond what makes us comfortable and this book certainly did so for me.

This fictionalized book about the life of the Confederate First Lady, Jefferson Davis’s wife Varina Howells, offers a fascinating glimpse into a side of the Civil War Northerners rarely consider. Varina, or V as she is called throughout the novel, is exceptionally bright and well read, and none too thrilled to be married to the 37-year old Davis when she is just 18. Their relationship before, during, after after the war between the states is often frosty, as their very different personalities don’t mesh and often clash. The book has as its central organizing point the presence of a young mulatto boy, Jimmie Limber, who is “adopted” by V but lost during her flight from Richmond in 1865. The story begins with Jimmie, now an adult teacher called James Blake, finds V at a spa-like rest hotel in Saratoga Springs, NY, and begs her to tell him about his early life. The tale, which weaves back and forth across time, takes off from there. Frazier is a wonderful, often poetic writer, and has done quite a lot of research to infuse this book with obscure but fascinating facts. The narrative drags too often, though, and it took me longer to read than I’d expected because I occasionally became bored and had to put it down. Overall, however, this is worth the effort and offers the reward of opening our eyes to a point of view I hadn’t considered before.

Jefferson Davis' first wife was Sarah Knox Taylor, daughter of his military commander and future President Zachary Taylor.  She died of malaria or yellow fever three months after the wedding.  The devastated Davis remained single for another ten years, when he met, courted and married Varina Howell, the daughter of a family friend who was nearly twenty years younger than he.  On the honeymoon, they made a visit to the grave of the first Mrs. Davis.  Such began a rather odd marriage characterized by emotional  as well as physical distance -- in the forty-five years they were married, Jeff and Varina lived apart nearly half the time.

The writing in this book is amazing. At times hard to follow but that just made it more interesting. The images of Civil War and it's aftermath are haunting. The lack of quotation marks for conversation is odd but I liked it. Maybe because it is describing someone's memories. Very moving. It makes me want to read more by this author.

I prefer novels that have a beginning. a middle and an end - preferably in that order.

The content and era i enjoyed, but the story seemed to ramble to much for my enjoyment, never really sure where we were in V's life: last present, future. It's no cold mountain.

Liked the last 56 pages of 356 page book Varina.It was a struggle to get through this book.

Varina is a novel based on the experience of Jefferson Davis’s wife at the end of the American Civil War. The plot has two strands - the attempt by Jimmy Limber, a middle aged black man living in the north to trace his early history as an equal member of the Davis household and the flight of Varina , her brood including Jimmy Limber and three servants from the advancing armies of the enemy through which Jimmys story is told. This is an excellent historical novel . Thestory told through Varina’s eyes including all the privations during her flight and subsequent life. She is a likeable woman who has to manage independently and the story brings in the themes of slavery, freedom, conquest and personal self realisation. It’s an easy read and well written

Who would have thought the wife of the President of the Confederacy would be so interesting? Strongly recommended.