Varina, by Charles Frazier

 

1906 – Saratoga Springs

James Blake “Jimmie Limber” Varina   First Days Among the Contrabands, a memoir by Elizabeth Hyde Botume (writes about James in book)

1842 – The Hurricane and Brierfield

Davis family:  Joseph – father Eliza – young wife Daughters – Florida (oldest), two others Benjamin Montgomery – slave, runs The Hurricane   Jefferson Davis – Joseph’s brother Pemberton – slave/companion Knoxie – first wife, daughter of Zacharay Taylor   Varina Winchester – tutor, lawyer – accompanied Varina to the Davis home, owned property and freed slaves   Betrothed and married to Jefferson Davis at age 18

1862 – Richmond

Davis became president of the Southern States, inauguration in Richmond Ellen Barnes – main cook, helped with children Mary O’Melia – head housekeeper

1865 – escaping to Florida

Varina Children: Samuel (died), Maggie, Jeffy (died age 21), Joe (fell off balcony and died), Jimmie Limber, Billy (died age 10), Winnie Ellen Barnes – Slave, companion, helped with children Delrey – driver   Mary Chestnut – Abbeville, friend of Varina Stayed with her for few days, never saw again   James Morgan, officer, and Burton Harris, Jefferson’s secretary – accompanying family   Ryland and Bristol – cadets, met family in Georgia and went with them   Wiggins Family – hog farm, shared food   Burned Plantation – Elgin, son of owner and slaves including Belle who raised him Elgin shot Ryland, Bristol shot Elgin

1865 - 1867

Children to Canada with Varina’s mother Jeff in prison, set free after two years Varina traveled with Burton Harrison

1877

Jeff in Biloxi, Mississippi with Sara Dorsey, writing memoir Varina in Europe, then at boarding house owned by Mary O’Melia Ellen married Varina recovered stolen painting my Whislet

Jefferson Davis died 1889 Varina died 1906

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from paperback edition.

1.       Were you surprised with all of the drug use (“medicine”) in the novel?  Do you think that was common in that time period?

2.       When Varina married Jeff, she discovered that Joseph had control over both houses and all of the money.   If something happened to Jefferson, Varina would have nothing.   She also had no say in the design of the new house being built for her family as well as taking in another poor family.   How does this and the previous question reflect the attitude toward women at that time?

3.       When Jeff was president and Varina was walking down the street, she got a lot of attention when people recognized her.  She thought, “Fame.  All it means is, people who don’t know one true thing about you get to have opinions and feel entitled to aim their screeds you way” (page 272).   Did this make you think of today’s celebrities any differently?

4.       Jefferson met up with Varina and the family in May 1865 as they were escaping to Florida and Cuba.   Varina kept telling him to go, but he stayed too long and he and the family were captured.  A former confederate officer, Basil Duke, thought that what Jefferson wanted “most, was justification, to defend himself in court and be hanged if he lost” (page 263).  Can you understand his reasoning?  Why would he put his family in danger?

5.       It was mentioned twice that Varina’s skin color was “a shade darker than everybody else” (page 326), this time when she was reminiscing with her classmate, Sara Dorsey.   Earlier in the book the author wrote, “V blushed, but one of the benefits of being brownish is that often nobody notices” (page 89).  Why do you think the author made a point of this?

6.       Should Varina have also been help responsible for her husband’s actions?   Was it unrealistic to think she would be treated any differently than she was when they were fleeing in 1865?  When she and her family were passing through Charlotte the people “shouted curses largely aimed at her husband, but since he wasn’t present to absorb them, she would have to do” (page 60).

7.       When Varina was in London, the author wrote, “Being on the wrong side of history carries consequences.  V lived that truth every day…Even if your sin…had been simply to live in the wrong place, you suffered” (page 38).  Do you agree?  Is this fair and can it be changed in people’s perception?

8.       Did this novel give you any different insights into slavery?  Were you surprised at the relationships between the owners and slaves?  For example, when Varina told James she went to Ellen’s wedding, he replied, “Even years after the war, you thought of Ellen simply as your friend?” (page 312).  Also, Jeff and Joseph sold the plantation to Benjamin Montgomery, Joseph’s slave.

9.       Why did the author refer to Varina as “V” throughout the book?

10.   Did you like the organization of the book and how the author kept jumping around in time?  How long did it take you to figure out that the symbol of the two parallel lines indicated moving to James and Varina in 1906?