A Separate Country

Book No: 39
Title: A Separate Country
Author: Robert Hicks
Genre: Fiction
Completed: 7/14/09
No. of Pages: 419
Rating: 3.5/5*****

I am not a huge Civil War buff, so I was unfamiliar with the story of John Bell Hood, upon whose life this book is based on. It is sometimes quite odd to read a novelization of a person’s life as you frequently wonder where the truth is and where the fiction begins. Suffice to say that John Bell Hood’s life was quite tragic. He was a well known, though perhaps not so well liked General, who lost a leg and the use of an arm during the war. He moves to New Orleans to rebuild his life and marries Anna Marie Hennan; over the course of the years they have eleven children. Yet General Hood is an abysmal failure at business and bankrupts his family, leaving them penniless and eventually orphaned as yellow fever ravages the city.

This was at times a very difficult book to read, for the character of General Hood is not very likeable throughout much of the book; it was at times quite difficult to see what attracted his wife to him. However over the course of the story there is redemption for the General, who begins to come to terms with the choices he has made and seeks forgiveness for some of his failings as his life comes to an end. The story succeeds mostly because of its vivid depiction of life in New Orleans after the war. There are times you can almost feel the heat and miasma of the city enveloping you; you can relish in the coolness of the ice house as the general and his acquaintances seek relief there. You can hear, see and smell the life all around you, that is how lush the descriptions are.

This story is told through journals and diaries of John Hood, Anna Marie and a former soldier Eli Griffin. Each of these voices is distinct yet at times their retelling of stories would over lap which often seemed redundant. The book is also very long and at times moves a bit too slowly, but in general I found it extremely well written, if steeped in sadness. Definitely a good read for any fan of historical fiction.