Mary M. (emeraldfire) -
Critically wounded and severely disillusioned by the fighting at Petersburg, Inman - a Confederate soldier - turns his back on the carnage of the battlefield and begins the treacherous journey to his home in the Blue Ridge Mountains and to Ada, the woman he loved before the war began. As he attempts to make his way across the mountains, through the devastated landscape of a disintegrating South, Inman comes into intimate and sometimes lethal contact with a variety of different people. Slaves and marauders, bounty hunters and witches - people who are both helpful and malign.
At the same time, the intrepid Ada struggles to revive her father's derelict farm. She had once lived a fairly affluent life - now her circumstances have been reduced to subsistence level by such a brutal war. Ada is learning to survive - and hoping to eventually thrive - in a world where all the old certainties have been irrevocably swept away.
As it masterfully interweaves both Inman's and Ada's stories, Cold Mountain: A Novel portrays an era and a landscape that is at once hugely powerful, majestically lovely, and keenly moving.
In my opinion, this was an absolutely brilliant book - a new American classic. The story was evocative of a time that was incredibly harrowing and brutal for everyone - soldiers and survivors alike. It had a reality and a poignancy to it that I found extremely moving. Cold Mountain: A Novel captures the brutality of the Civil War perfectly - I give it a definite A+! This is a book which stands in a class all its own.
At the same time, the intrepid Ada struggles to revive her father's derelict farm. She had once lived a fairly affluent life - now her circumstances have been reduced to subsistence level by such a brutal war. Ada is learning to survive - and hoping to eventually thrive - in a world where all the old certainties have been irrevocably swept away.
As it masterfully interweaves both Inman's and Ada's stories, Cold Mountain: A Novel portrays an era and a landscape that is at once hugely powerful, majestically lovely, and keenly moving.
In my opinion, this was an absolutely brilliant book - a new American classic. The story was evocative of a time that was incredibly harrowing and brutal for everyone - soldiers and survivors alike. It had a reality and a poignancy to it that I found extremely moving. Cold Mountain: A Novel captures the brutality of the Civil War perfectly - I give it a definite A+! This is a book which stands in a class all its own.
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