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The Widow of the South

3.69 of 5 stars 3.69 · rating details · 7,224 ratings · 1,002 reviews

Carnton Plantation, 1894: Carrie McGavock is an old woman who tends the graves of the almost 1,500 soldiers buried there. As she walks among the dead, an elderly man appears--the same soldier she met that fateful day long ago. Today, he asks if the cemetery has room for one more.

Based on an extraordinary true story, this brilliant, meticulously researched novel flashes bac...more

Paperback, 436 pages

Published September 26th 2006 by Grand Central Publishing (first published January 1st 2005)

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Jan 24, 2012 bookczuk rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-novel-or-book, i-heard-about-it-on-npr, read-on-recommendation, set-in-the-south, taught-me-something, worth-the-reread, bookcrossing

I absolutely LOVED this book. I was reading it when I went up to Rabun County once for some respite from my goofy household. A whole week by myself. It was heaven. But the thought of driving 5 hours was overwhelming, so I took the book out on tape and listened to it on tape while driving, then would read on the back porch in the cabin. I kept trying to figure out if I could drive to the Franklin in the book and see the actual setting. (Though this is historical fiction, it's based on the true st...more

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Jul 07, 2007 Sara rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Historical fiction - based on the true story of Carrie McGavock whose plantation home was used as a hospital during the battle of Franklin between the Union and Confederate armies. Interesting, but sometimes a bit obtuse I thought. Wasn't very crazy about the dialog which sometimes seemed confusing, as if the characters themselves didn't quite know what they thought or meant. Did like the character of Mariah, Carrie's slave who had been with her since childhood. Interesting to see their relation...more

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Mar 04, 2010 Tara Chevrestt rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Tara by: Summer

Shelves: historical-fiction, civil-war, women-that-really-existed-fiction

This is a little weird. The beginning is fantastic, opening with the Confederates on their way to Franklin where they meet the Union army and a bloody battle ensues. What I love about this is the alternating narratives. In the beginning, it isn't just Carrie, but also Zachariah's narrative on the Confederate side and a Union soldier gets his two cents in as well. When the battle is over, the book goes downhill for me.

Carrie is more... gothic southern belle than widow of the south. She is obsess...more

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Jul 14, 2011 Janice rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2011, audiobooks, historical-fiction

I'm not sure what I expected with this novel. It wasn't what I got, that much I know.

I had to listen to the prologue about three times before I got into the swing of the story. Once that was achieved, I had no further problems in that regards.

The book is based on the true story of Carrie McGavock whose home was turned into a hospital during the battle at Franklin, Tennessee in November 1864. After the war was over, Carrie & her husband donated some of their land as a cemetary for the men wh...more I'm not sure what I expected with this novel. It wasn't what I got, that much I know.

I had to listen to the prologue about three times before I got into the swing of the story. Once that was achieved, I had no further problems in that regards.

The book is based on the true story of Carrie McGavock whose home was turned into a hospital during the battle at Franklin, Tennessee in November 1864. After the war was over, Carrie & her husband donated some of their land as a cemetary for the men who lost their lives in the bloody battle. Bodies were exhumed, identified where possible, and reburied in individual plots in the McGavoc Cemetary.

I don't know how accurate Robert Hicks was in portraying this woman and the events surrounding the completion of the cemetary. I suspect that the only factual parts were the battle at Franklin, the use of Carnton (the McGavock home) as a hospital and the existance of the cemetary. I could find very little about Carrie on the internet other than the occasional mention.

At the beginning of the book, Robert Hicks painted her as a rather weak woman. She isolated herself from the world as she secluded herself in her room, mourning the death of three of her children. I wondered how this woman could be the same woman who would see the horrors of war spilling over in her own home, and who would assist in caring for these dying boys and men. I wondered if Hicks was doing her memory a disservice. Perhaps he was striving for the contrast between Carrie before the war, and Carrie because of the war. Perhaps he wanted to demonstrate that she pulled an iron strength from deep within her to care for the dying, that being the pivotal thing that made her the strong woman she must have been.

There was an unlikely romance that had to be purely fiction. However, it served to be the crux of the issue between wanting to live or wanting to die. The second half of the book examined this issue in detail. In fact, I rather tired of it, but I perserved. It picked up towards the end when the idea of reburying the soldiers at Carnton.

I do know that Hicks' portrayal of the exhumation, identification, and reburial of the bodies was not accurate to what really happened. Unfortunately, some audiobooks leave off the author's note so I don't know his reasoning for rewriting history.

There were a couple of things that were presented and not explained. (view spoiler)

Overall the three narrators did a good job in breathing life into the characters and giving them voices. (less)

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May 12, 2008 Jodi rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: history buffs

Recommended to Jodi by: my Tennessee friend

Shelves: civil-war, historical-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. May 7, 2008 - I went to the Carnton Plantation 2 years ago and have been wanting to read this book since then. The visit was amazing and seeing all of the headstones in the cemetary was unbelievable - 1500 (I believe) of them on the property all from one brief battle. The wood floors in the house still contain the bloodstains from this battle that lasted a short time ( a few hours I believe). The floors were completely destroyed by all of the injured and dying soldiers that were brought into thi...more May 7, 2008 - I went to the Carnton Plantation 2 years ago and have been wanting to read this book since then. The visit was amazing and seeing all of the headstones in the cemetary was unbelievable - 1500 (I believe) of them on the property all from one brief battle. The wood floors in the house still contain the bloodstains from this battle that lasted a short time ( a few hours I believe). The floors were completely destroyed by all of the injured and dying soldiers that were brought into this estate to be cared from by the owners. What a shock it must have been for them to realize that this deadly battle was going to be fought right off of their front porch. The tour guide made the history of the place come alive, and I can't wait to see how the book compares to my visit!
May 12, 2008 - I finished the book while on a trip to Tennessee this past weekend. Having been to the plantation really made it come alive for me. I would love to go back to the house again now that I have read the book. I did go to the Carter house on my trip and learned more about the Battle of Franklin. It lasted only 5 hours and in all about 9,000 men died (union and confederate)- more than any other battle of the Civil War! This house really helped me with my understanding of the book too. The Carnton Plantation was off to the side of the battle where as the Carter House was in the MIDDLE OF THE BATTLE FIELD!!!!! Thie Carter House is the most heavily bullet-damaged house still standing today from the Civil War!
As for the book, it was good, but I think the plot and the characters could have been a little better developed. It hinted that Carrie and her husband, John were not very happily married, and that he had had an affair with her slave, Mariah many years earlier. This was never really fully explored. Carrie's "mental" affair with the soldier Zachariah was not really well developed well either. Why did she beat him up at one point? I wish there had been more written about the family's feelings and thoughts as the battle approached and while the battle was raging on their land. The Baylor boy who died in the battle, and used the pen-name "Cotton Gin" seems to me to have been based on Ted (Tad?) Carter. This book is historical fiction, but the author did a lot of research, and so I am sure that he went to the Carter House and heard the story of their son who died fighting in this battle right on his own property where he grew up. Ted Carter also wrote political propaganda under a pen name during the war like the Baylor boy. This was an interesting insight that I gleaned of my visit this past weekend!!! Good book. Interesting slice of history.(less)

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Feb 04, 2009 Michele rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was one of the best books I've read this year. It was a beautifully written book about a woman in the south whose home is commandeered and turned into a hospital. It wakes her up from a deep depression and changes her life. In the end, her acreage becomes the cemetary for the thousands of soldiers killed in Franklin, Tennessee. She cared for their graves and mourned for them the remainder of her life. I loved this book and the value the story placed on the lives of those soldiers who fought...more

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May 17, 2013 Karen rated it 3 of 5 stars

I recently visited the Carnton Plantation in Franklin, TN, which inspired me to read this book. I very much enjoyed The Widow of the South. I was unaware of this battle during the Civil War and this is why historical fiction is my favorite genre. I learn as I read :) If you enjoy reading about the Civil War I recommend this book,

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Jan 04, 2009 Alison rated it 4 of 5 stars

I loved this book...I think because I am a Native Southerner and because I work with veterans. A vivid description of how one wealthy family was impacted by the Civil War, and the compassionate and dedicated efforts of Carrie McGavock to nurse over 1,500 dying and wounded soldiers at her antebellum home. Based on a true story, the Carnton plantation was turned into a veteran's cemetery, and is a historical attraction today in Franklin, TN. This book gave me a new depth of compassion for the war...more

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Jul 29, 2010 Michelle added it

The Widow of the South is a novel that sneaks up on the reader. The juxtaposition of narrators is unsettling. Just when the reader feels comfortable with the direction of the novel, the shift in narration forces the reader to pay closer attention and reevaluate the knowledge already gleaned from the other perspectives. However, before one realizes it, the story meshes in a way that melts the heart while causing one to rethink previously told stories about the South during the Civil War. In other...more The Widow of the South is a novel that sneaks up on the reader. The juxtaposition of narrators is unsettling. Just when the reader feels comfortable with the direction of the novel, the shift in narration forces the reader to pay closer attention and reevaluate the knowledge already gleaned from the other perspectives. However, before one realizes it, the story meshes in a way that melts the heart while causing one to rethink previously told stories about the South during the Civil War. In other words, the forced attention and extra work are well worth the efforts for the pagentry and beauty behind Mr. Hicks' words.

Make no mistake, The Widow of the South is not all beauty. Mr. Hicks presents an unflinching account of battle and its aftermath, from the battlefield to the hospital and life as an amputee. The stories are told with stark honesty, not romanticizing the battle or post-battle life in any way. The straightforward delivery, while rather gruesome in its descriptions, adds realism, and yet poignancy, to horrible situations. The Widow of the South demolishes every romantic ideal about the Civil War and creates a new picture for the reader - one that truly reflects that "war is hell."

Just as the story unfolds one scene, one narrator at a time, Carrie McGavock grows and develops page after page until she represents a true steel magnolia, for which the South is so famous. Beset by grief and depression, the Carrie in the beginning of the novel is not the same Carrie McGavock at the end of the novel. As we see how the soldiers fare after the battle, we also see Carrie use her grief to help care for the soldiers directly under her care and later for all soldiers of the battle. She rediscovers what love means, what duty means, but more importantly, who she is and her unwavering values. The self-discovery and journey Carrie travels through the novel to become the ultimate Widow of the South is made precious by the backdrop of the political and social climate she faces.

Zachariah Cashwell is worth mentioning as an excellent foil for Carrie, as he is the one to force her to reevaluate her life to date and what she means to do with her future. He does not coddle her or treat her with the social propriety that is her due. Rather, in Carrie, he eventually recognizes the fact that she is as injured as he is, albeit her injuries are more subtle and well-hidden. Together, they are able to heal each other's physical and spiritual wounds, finding a love so sweet and special that it endures across the decades.

Yet, this is not a love story between a man and a woman. The Widow of the South is ultimately a love story between those that are lost and those that are left behind. It is a reminder that one should never forget another's sacrifice.

As previously mentioned, this is by no means an easy story. The all-too-realistic descriptions of battle and surgery can leave a reader squeamish. Also, Carrie's narration reflects her mental state. When she is depressed and completely upset, her narration reflects her unrest. As Carrie grows in determination and gathers the cloak of responsibility closer to her, her narration takes on a much more focused aspect. Still, it is not easy wading through her muddled perspective.

I did struggle with the novel in the beginning, especially with the multiple narrators and not having the visual cues to remind me who was speaking. As I mentioned, Carrie was particularly difficult to decipher as to her meaning, and it took me a bit longer than I would have expected to be able to determine that she was clinically depressed. Eventually, I came to enjoy the different narrators. Each person lent its own uniqueness to each character, and I particularly enjoyed the care each narrator took to authenticate his or her character's voice. I'm not certain I would have cared about each character as much had I read the book versus listened to it on audio. In this particular instance, the audio version highlighted the internal struggles of each character, making the story that much more forceful.

In the end, this is a lovely story that sheds light on a Civil War battle that does not get much attention. Its exploration of life beyond the battle, as told from the various perspectives, creates a crystal-clear picture that the battle did not end after the soldiers stopped fighting. Mr. Hicks presents his details with sharp focus, holding nothing back, and the story is better for this brutal honesty. I would definitely recommend this novel to any historical fiction lovers out there!(less)

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Dec 06, 2008 Noel rated it 5 of 5 stars

One of my favorite books of the year. While this is a novel, it was superbly researched and part of the book is sheer history.
From Publisher's Weekly: Hicks's big historical first novel, based on true events in his hometown, follows the saga of Carrie McGavock, a lonely Confederate wife who finds purpose transforming her Tennessee plantation into a hospital and cemetery during the Civil War. Carrie is mourning the death of several of her children, and, in the absence of her husband, has left the...more

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May 17, 2013 Cheshire Public Library rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: featured-on-cheshire-library-blog

This book had been sitting on my to be read bookshelf for more than 8 years (and yes, I do have an entire bookcase of books that I have not read yet!). I remember picking it up in the grocery store, of all places, when I was out shopping with my grandmother, and thinking it was intriguing enough to go in my cart. Eight years later, the book finally made it to the top of my list for this book club.

It’s November 1864 and the Civil War has waged on for more than 3 1/2 years now. Carrie McGavock is...more This book had been sitting on my to be read bookshelf for more than 8 years (and yes, I do have an entire bookcase of books that I have not read yet!). I remember picking it up in the grocery store, of all places, when I was out shopping with my grandmother, and thinking it was intriguing enough to go in my cart. Eight years later, the book finally made it to the top of my list for this book club.

It’s November 1864 and the Civil War has waged on for more than 3 1/2 years now. Carrie McGavock is sitting in her bedroom, rocking back and forth in her chair when General Nathaniel Bedford Forrest comes knocking at her door. Her house is being taken as a field hospital. Her town of Franklin is now a battlefield.

All throughout town men are falling, wounded or dead. Carrie’s plantation has now become a field of the battle scarred. Four generals lie dead on her porch and the pile of limbs grows taller and taller. One soldier taken to Carrie’s plantation is Zachariah Cashwell, a Confederate soldier from Arkansas. Cashwell was struck with a bullet in the leg when he attempted to raise the colors. He’s in tough shape- he needs his leg amputated but would rather die.

What ensues between Carrie and Zachariah was recently named by Amazon as one of the Top 50 Love Stories. Initially angered at Carrie’s interference in the amputating of his leg, Zachariah grows to love Carrie. Theirs is a relationship that will never be anything more, they care deeply for each other.

While I enjoyed Zachariah and Carrie’s friendship- really what I found the “love” story to be- what I enjoyed the most was the telling of the battle of Franklin and Carrie’s quest to honor the men and boys who fought and died there. Too much time was spent on matters that were not pertinent to the heart of the story, which was Carrie and the cemetery.

Based on the true story of Carrie McGavock and Carnton plantation, McGavock’s backyard became the final resting place for 1,500 Confederate soldiers. She was known for her meticulous care and keeping of the cemetery, which she tended until her death some 50 years later.

I listened to this book, which was a full cast audio, switching between the voice of Zachariah and Carrie, as well as a narrator. The readers were just OK in my opinion- the woman who read for Carrie sounded much older than her 35 years.

Hicks, to me, what at his best and most passionate in his Author’s Note, when he told the story of Carrie and her cemetery. Hicks had worked for many years as the driving force behind the preservation of the Carnton Plantation, and he was intimately acquainted with the property and those who lived there. I wished the rest of the story could have been so eloquently told as his Author’s Note.

- Reviewed by Jenn http://cheshirelibraryblog.wordpress....
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Mar 27, 2013 Bonnye Reed rated it 5 of 5 stars

An exceptional first novel, Robert Hicks has done a wonderful job bringing to life a little known Civil War battle, the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee; a five hour battle with 9,200 casualties fought within days of the wars' end. A nearby plantation, Carnton, was commandeered by the Southern soldiers and turned into a primitive field hospital to handle the thousands of wounded, both Union and Confederate. The matriarch of the Carnton Plantation family, Carrie McGavock, became known in legend as t...more

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Feb 15, 2013 Ingrid rated it 3 of 5 stars

The novel starts on the 30th of November of 1864, shortly before the Battle of Franklin and follows Carrie Mc Gavock tending the wounded soldiers and ends in 1984, where she still looks after their graves. The book is set in the city of Franklin, depicting both the actual battle as well as its consequences.

Some suffocated to death, buried under many bodies, getting no air. The trench was so full of deaths, one had to walk upon them and haul corpses away to be able to stand.
“We had watched this...more

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Jan 06, 2013 Paisley Smith rated it 1 of 5 stars

DNF The real story about Mrs. McGavock is so much better than this purely fictional account by Robert Hicks. Upon visiting Carnton Plantation, I was enthralled by the history that took place there, and the events thrust upon the McGavock family by circumstances beyond their control. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction and Mr. Hicks, who brashly claims to have coined the phrase 'Never let the truth get in the way of a good story' should have stuck to the truth for his sprawling novel - which by...more

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Nov 17, 2011 Shelby Summerfield rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelby Summerfield

English 10-2

Mr. Rich

Book Review D

Hicks, Robert. The Widow of the South.

Imagine your house turning into a hospital for hundreds of men; arms and legs piled stories high outside your window, doctors judged on how fast they can amputate soldiers’ limbs. This and a whole lot more was what Carrie McGavock had to go through in 1864 during the most gruesome battle of the civil war. The Widow of the South, by Robert Hicks, takes us on a journey through one of the most horrific and li...more Shelby Summerfield

English 10-2

Mr. Rich

Book Review D

Hicks, Robert. The Widow of the South.

Imagine your house turning into a hospital for hundreds of men; arms and legs piled stories high outside your window, doctors judged on how fast they can amputate soldiers’ limbs. This and a whole lot more was what Carrie McGavock had to go through in 1864 during the most gruesome battle of the civil war. The Widow of the South, by Robert Hicks, takes us on a journey through one of the most horrific and life altering battles in the civil war, the Battle of Franklin. This is a well-researched novel of historical fiction by Robert Hicks.
Carrie McGavock, the main character, is visited by two confederate soldiers who tell her that her plantation is to be turned into a hospital for the soldiers in battle. She and her black servant Mariah, have no choice but to accept and are given a few days to prepare for the soldiers arrival. Carrie has lost three of her five children and is a very mentally disturbed woman, living as a hermit and in survival mode with very little appreciation for life. Her husband’s way of coping with his depressing life is to be constantly absent. The brutal, bloody battle begins with hundreds of injured men brought to Carrie’s house. Carrie and the surgeons are responsible for comforting and tending to the soldiers wounds. The audience sees average men going through some of the most terrifying experiences and viewings in all of history. We hear of thousands of men dying and thousands of men hoping death will come quickly and easily.
When Zachariah Cashwell, a wounded soldier preparing to die, enters her home her life is changed forever. He is the only soldier that does not beg for her attention. This immediately attracts her in a way she never knew was possible. “I wanted his eyes on me. I didn’t understand why, not then.”(Hicks, 137). Zachariah is a way for her to be able to find answers and discover her true self. Carrie sees herself in Zachariah. She finds herself unexplainably desiring to spend time with him. Carrie believes Zachariah is her only hope for happiness. He is her escape from her troubled mind. She is constantly reminded of war and death and yet she is the happiest she has been since her children’s death. “Those days were the most important of my life. It is possible to know yourself-every kindness, every urge to violence, every petty resentment in chaos. I discovered that my mind sharpened as my surroundings grew more uncertain and unfamiliar”(Hicks, 143). Carrie is awakened by the death around her and finally finds herself.
We see how much the war changes everyone in the south and how Carrie found hope agian and became more in touch with her soul. She finds a way to come to grips with the death of her children through this tragedy. The soldiers take the place of her children allowing her to rejuvenate and become one step closer to her old self. The author has a brilliant way of showing how a tragedy can give a woman a purpose again in life. (less)

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Jul 15, 2011 Holli rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-group, historical-fiction

I chose this one for our April book group meeting, what with it being the Civil War Sesquicentennial and all. It's been a while since I've read a good Civil War book, a subject I was very interested in as a girl.

I almost gave this book 3 stars, then I thought maybe 3 1/2, and finally settled on 4 because I was very impressed with Robert Hicks' writing, considering that he wrote this novel only because he wanted Carrie McGavock's story to be told and couldn't find anyone else to do it. He deserv...more I chose this one for our April book group meeting, what with it being the Civil War Sesquicentennial and all. It's been a while since I've read a good Civil War book, a subject I was very interested in as a girl.

I almost gave this book 3 stars, then I thought maybe 3 1/2, and finally settled on 4 because I was very impressed with Robert Hicks' writing, considering that he wrote this novel only because he wanted Carrie McGavock's story to be told and couldn't find anyone else to do it. He deserves 4 stars because of the sentence "She made him wish he had a cleaner shirt." (p. 41) This just tells us loads about Carrie in one simple sentence.

Hicks also earned his 4 stars with the following passage on p. 73. This is after Sgt. Zachariah Cashwell has prepared for the battle by staring at the horizon and taking stock of his place in the world, deciding that he is insignificant, like "an ant, a speck of dust, a forgotten memory." His insignificance makes him strong and able to face death until:

We didn't all die at the hedge. The thing about fighting is that if you throw enough bodies forward, eventually a few will break through almost anything. Those of us who ran through the hedge without getting shot got a little ways up the hill before we quit screaming and realized we hadn't been killed yet. You can get so that every step, every little obstacle on the battlefield, becomes so big that you can't see much past it, and when you do get past, it's sometimes hard to remember what the hell you were supposed to be doing. We dropped to our bellies and hunkered down in the grass, wondering what to do with so few of us still alive. I had those two pistols I'd taken off that dead officer, and I just stared and stared at them, noticing every scratch and powder stain. Everything was bright and crisp. The smallest things became clear. I watched an ant crawl over the dirt and get to his hole, waving his head around once before descending. I counted the veins on a blade of grass. I lost my other powers of observation. I heard nothing, smelled nothing, felt nothing. I had forgotten my truce with death, and I was afraid.

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Feb 24, 2011 Friends of Linebaugh Library rated it 3 of 5 stars

I love historical fiction. To take a real event, and "fill in the gaps" to make a story come alive is pure talent. Widow of the South tells the mostly true story of Carrie McGavock, a Tennessee housewife whose home is turned into a field hospital after the Battle of Franklin is waged in her town. She is a slightly morbid person from the loss of two children, but seems to find her place in life taking care of the injured soldiers. When the war was over she and her husband retrieved the fallen sol...more

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Jan 25, 2011 LaNita Herlem rated it 4 of 5 stars

Wonderful fictional novel based on the life of a true American heroine! While Carrie McGavock did not lose her husband in the Civil War, she took on the role of a widow which is to honor and remember, only she chose to do it for strangers. I, as a woman who did lose her husband to the war in Iraq, found so much inspiration in what Mrs. McGavock chose to do with her life after the war. And having lost a loved one, I can only imagine the comfort it must have been for the families of those Fallen a...more

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Sep 20, 2009 Tina rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have always loved the stories of the Civil War. Some of the most famous and bloodiest were fought in the great state of Tennessee. The Battle of Franklin was one of those. In a town of 2700 there were 9200 men killed in a matter of 5 hours. This is the story of that battle, as told from several points of view; and of a courageous woman, who let the army use her home as a field hospital, and later who helped to have the bodies of the fallen removed from their unmarked graves, and laid to rest o...more

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Jul 26, 2009 Ann rated it 5 of 5 stars

The story pulls in several different points of view of the events and people surrounding the devastating Civil War Battle of Franklin, Tennessee which saw 9,200 casualties in five hours of fighting in this small sleepy, southern town of 2,500 on the afternoon of November 30, 1864.
At the forefront is Carrie McGavock, a woman whose home, Carnton, was turned into a field hospital during and after the battle. We see Carrie,who in the beginning of the book is a grieving Mother,the loss of three of h...more

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May 30, 2011 Susan rated it 3 of 5 stars

On a recent trip to Nashville, I visited the Carnton Plantation and was amazed to learn about the events that took place around that area in 1864. The Battle of Franklin occurred in the fields surrounding the McGavock home with 9.000 causalities. I immediately checked out this book, in hopes of learning more about the family who turned their home into a hospital and their grounds into a cemetery for the fallen soldiers.

This historical fiction book, however, was disappointing. It was more about...more

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Mar 23, 2011 Pamela rated it 4 of 5 stars

Set near the end of the Civil War, the book is about a woman on Carnton Plantation in Franklin, TN, who made it her mission to care for almost 1500 Confederate graves on her own property—the largest private cemetery in the US. The Battle of Franklin was the last major battle before Appomattox & had more casualties in the five hour battle than in the first 19 hours of D-Day! Many historians also say it was far worse than Gettysburg, considering the few hours of the battle. Franklin, at the ti...more

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Jun 05, 2010 Chad rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everybody, especially those that like historical fiction

Shelves: historical-fiction

I rarely give books a full five rating, but this book was amazing. I enjoy historical fiction and this one did not disappoint. Robert Hicks did a wonderful job in describing the environment. I could smell the gunpower, I could hear the wood floor boards creak as soldiers walked across them in Mrs. McGavock's home, I could see the horrors of war. The Providence Journal stated, "Perhaps the best Civil War novel since Cold Mountain." PERHAPS? This book was better than Cold Mountain. If you enjoyed...more

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Jun 01, 2010 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Let me first say that I was in no way interested in anything to do with The Civl War. BUT I LOVED this book! It was a tiny bit hard to start, but turned soon sucked me in. I foud it to be extremely interesting AND enteraining. This is about the people and the War inside the house, as opposed to The Black Flower, which is about the people outside of the Carton House. Both are very compelling.
Both books round out the experience of the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee. Having just returned from beauti...more

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Jan 02, 2013 Agnes rated it 3 of 5 stars

I liked that this book was based on a real event, the Author's Note at the end was one of the most interesting parts of the book for me. I found it astonishing that the Confederate Army chose to attack at such a bad location for them - a big contributor to their overall defeat. I liked Carrie as someone swept into nursing the wounded and eventually tending their graves without any previous intention of getting involved. I didn't really understand her romance with Zachariah,however, it seemed to...more

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Jun 13, 2010 LemonLinda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Another excellent Civil War historical fiction book based on the true story of what happened in Franklin, TN before, during and in the years following the great battle that took place there towards the end of the war.

Carrie McGavock and Zachariah Caswell stike up a most unlikely friendship/relationship when he was living in her home which had been used after the battle as an hospital. That friendship helps Carrie to overcome her many weaknesses and ultimately rise to the occasion saving the many...more

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May 02, 2009 Jenn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

I love historical fiction. To take a real event, and "fill in the gaps" to make a story come alive is pure talent in my book. Widow of the South tells the mostly true story of Carrie McGavok, a Tennessee housewife whose home is turned into a field hospital after a battle is waged in her town. She is a slightly morbid person from the loss of two children, but seems to find her place in life taking care of the injured soldiers. When the war was over she and her husband retrieved the fallen solider...more

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Feb 23, 2009 Kristen rated it 4 of 5 stars

I am still mesmerized at how much I liked this book. I borrowed it my from father - a southern history nut - because I found out over x-mas that his family was related to the McGavicks, about whom this story is told. the words 'civil war' signified to me that it would be dry, historical and old english, but it wasn't. It was beautiful in that we hear perspectives from a variety of characters where the chapters were short and always held my interest. It is about Carrie McGavock whose plantation w...more

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Mar 15, 2013 Yvette Ward-Horner rated it 3 of 5 stars

I don't normally read historical fiction, but I found this book's concept intriguing (woman obsessed with tending the graves of fallen Civil War soldiers). When I found out it was based on a true story, I had to read it.

I found it difficult to get into at first and it took me a long time to warm up to the main character, Carrie. She was so extremely neurotic and gloomy at first that I couldn't stand her. Eventually she finds her footing and her strength is gradually revealed. By the end of the b...more

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Jan 29, 2012 Anna rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was a great novel and then turned into a pathetic Southern revisionist delusional novel. I couldn't choke down the rest without rolling my eyes every dozen pages. Carrie McGavock and her husband were slave owners. They used innocent people's toil and stole their freedom for their own selfish greed. This piece of fiction makes it sound like they had great compassion for their slaves. If the McGavock's did have great compassion for slaves they would have supported the Union. Let's get real. I...more

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About Robert Hicks

Robert Hicks has been active in the music industry in Nashville for twenty years as both a music publisher and artist manager. The driving force behind the perservation and restoration of the historic Carnton plantation in Tennessee, he stumbled upon the extraordinary role that Carrie McGavock played during and after the Battle of Franklin. He is the author of The Widow of the South and A Separat...more

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“Until I get the keys to the Kingdom, Lord, I ain't giving up.” — 1 person liked it

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