Varina | 
pickFighting a cold allowed me to do nothing today but read, and I devoured this in one day. Varina Davis, like most of us, was more complex than either side of the conflict wants to believe. Frazier‘s writing is exquisite, and I learned things I had not known - like the capital of the CSA was briefly in my hometown. Photo is from her New York days. So much of her life was controlled by others, I hope she was happy in those last years. #bookspin
One of a few new books from shopping the last couple of weeks. I have liked all the Frazier books I‘ve read so this was on my tbr list.
I liked this book about V, wife of Jefferson Davis. A lot of it is centered around their efforts to get to Cuba as Richmond falls, but it flashes back to other parts of her life, too. #1wordtitle @MrBook #readwithmrbook
Some relevant commentary from Frazier. In the book, a black man seeks out Varina, trying to remember his time with her as a child, when she raised him w/ her own kids. V tells their story to him in flashbacks. These are his thoughts. I thought this was the best passage in the book.
“All those stories that tell us who we are-stories of exploration, freedom, slavery, and always violence. We keep clutching those things, or at least worn-out images of them, like idols we can‘t quit worshipping.”
This section stood out to me because the book I‘m reading about gun violence has a chapter about how violence & guns became part of our culture, & the idea is the same.
“Inhuman, V says. But that‘s an easy word. We‘ve been doing that sort of thing to each other all through history, back past the Pyramids. Humans are inhuman, whether it‘s by direct action action or acceptance of a horrible action as normal.”
Some interesting quotes in this book.
pickStayed up late last night to finish this one. I enjoyed learning more about V, wife of Jefferson Davis. The book changes timelines a lot, so that can be confusing at first. There were parts of her life that Frazier skips that I would like to know more about. Learned about the end of the Civil War from a different perspective. Varina is a survivor, a strong woman (with the help of some opium). Using this for #ReadwithMrBook one word title. @MrBook
"A deep belief that your moment in time is the Pinnacle, the only standard of judgment extending from the creation of light until the black apocalypse, that what you believe right now is eternal truth because you believe it so fervently--those deep beliefs so crucial at the moment but none of them more permanent than a puff of air across a palmful of dry talcum."
Back home from vacation, and as many books as I took, I came home with more. 🤷🏻♀️ These were purchased on the island. #bookhaul #1of3 #sorrynotsorry
pickAttending an author event soon with Silas House 💕 in conversation w/ Frazier so I bought Varina. The audiobook was available so I gave it a listen. I‘m torn about my review; the writing is beautiful but I struggled to stay engaged with the story. I easily got lost with the time jumps in the story. I got distracted when discussing war politics. I‘m still excited about the author event. #ReadingUSA2019 #Virginia
Hooked_on_books, LapReader, Pamwurtzler, Kaye, megnews, Librarybelle, Laughterhp, squirrelbrain, Bookishgal71, BarbaraBB, Samplergal, Addison_Reads, jessinikkip, MirrorMask, AnneFindsJoy, Marina_h
I bailed out before the first paragraph was finished ~ not because of content but due to the robotic narrator. It was awful! I waited weeks to listen to that? No way! I listened to 91.3 instead on the way to work.
I love Cold Mountain but the reviews I'm seeing for Varina seem to mount up on the negative ~ don't even bother ~ side. It will be several weeks before I have a chance to voice my opinion but for now I'll continue to joyfully anticipate.
#TBRtemptation post 2! In this his 4th book, Frazier returns to the time and place of Cold Mountain. Teenaged Varina marries much-older widower Jefferson Davis, expecting a secure Mississippi landowner's life. She'll wind up in the center of America's darkest moment, First Lady of the CSA. This novel follows her escape from Richmond with her children and becoming fugitives. #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎
Without a doubt the worst book I read in 2018 was Varina by Charles Frazier. I listened to the audio, so maybe that affected my opinion, but it was boring and tedious. #worstreads
So I listened to Varina on Scribd recently and really didn‘t like it. One of my least favorite reads of 2018 so far. As I was browsing through my unread ebooks on my Kindle, look what I found. Turns out I had already purchased Varina at some point. I wish I could go back in time and save myself the trouble and the money. 🤦♀️
Spending some time this evening beginning this book. #Tuesdayreads #historicalfiction
Third time may be the charm. I‘ve struggled with this. Don‘t know that I want to know or sympathize with Varina Davis. Yet I love and trust Charles Frazier. So, picked it up a 3rd time and something grabbed me. I know I‘ll at least read it-verdict is out as to the rest. Will it be best to let sleeping Dragons lie?
pickHistorical fiction about a woman I had never thought about before - the wife of Jefferson Davis. It covers pre civil war, but focuses on her life after the war. The writing was a little dense, but I liked it.
pickI adored Cold Mountain. I wasn‘t so wild about Nightwoods, and had no interest for some reason, in Thirteen Moons. But Varina is beautifully written glimpse into an amazing character. Varina was Jefferson Davis‘ second wife and they lived much of their lives apart, both before and after the Civil War. Frazier brings Varina and her personality to life. Challenged and brilliant, she lived life on her terms. Was she a Thief of Life? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
panDont even bother. I stuck it out because there were flashes that I thought might turn into a good book. But alas it was not to be. The book is the story of Jefferson Davis wife Varina. She looks back on her life in a tale told to a man she rescued from the street in Richmond, a black man who came to see her and find his history, when she was 86 or so. Like I said, it could have been a great story.
I'm not getting much reading done the last few days, too busy working outside in the dirt!
So much of this novel is a conversation and it‘s wonderful and lovely and sad all at once.
Fun fact: Varina Davis wrote an etiquette column for the New York World while she lived there in the 1890s. This is the same paper that the villain in Time and Again by Jack Finney works for! Varina also enjoyed a daily carriage ride through Central Park. When she died in NYC at age 80, she received a funeral procession through the streets of NYC before her coffin was taken by train to Richmond, VA for a burial with honors by Confederate veterans
“...they had made bad choices one by one ... choices of convenience and conviction ...following the general culture. Never acknowledging that the general culture is often stupid or evil and would vote out God in favor of the Devil if he fed them back hate and fear in a way that made them feel righteous.”
This Friday!!!
I‘ve enjoyed all of his books and this one is a great read as well. Thank goodness for windy weather that allows me to stay indoors and read!
Oh boy! I want to drop everything for this.
so-soI liked the history - learning more about Varina Davis and her life post Civil War - but I felt it really went a little too far in trying to make her sympathetic, and I didn‘t quite buy it. Lovely writing, although referring to her as “V” throughout the book started to annoy me.
What if the little mixed_race boy known as Jimmy Limber who lived with the Jefferson Davis family during the Civil War came to visit Varina Davis in her old age to share memories and learn about each other‘s lives? Based on snippets of fact from Varina Davis‘ memoir of her husband, and extant photos of the boy.
