A Separate Country

By Robert Hicks
Grand Central Publishing, $25.99, 418 pages

Many a Confederate young man was slaughtered serving under General Hood in the last months of the Civil War.  A combination of strategic mistakes, over-bearing ego, a climate of desperation and relentless bad luck combusted with disastrous consequences; the war was lost, soldiers were disillusioned, Southern gentry was shocked, and General Hood’s left arm and right leg were blown off and left to disintegrate on the field of battle.  A Separate Country is the story of General Hood’s acceptance, repentance, and reconciliation with these experiences.

The setting is New Orleans, 1879.  General Hood’s wartime reputation was well known in the post war South, though he is never sure just how he will be received. He knows he dreads facing family members of the men he recklessly sent into ill-conceived battles. He composes his war memoirs in defense of himself and his decisions and sends them for publication. ||Anna Maria Hennen, a beautiful New Orleans aristocrat, is captivated by the General, woos and wins him, marries him, and bears 11 children during the course of their life together. This marriage, the new South, his children, his friendships, and time passing all contribute to General Hood’s commitment to re-writing his memoirs, this time telling the larger truths.

The story is told using these revised memoirs, placed side by side with journal entries and letters from Anna Marie. Thus, do we learn the individual stories of the General and Anna Marie, as well as the story of their marriage.  We also meet Rintrah, Father Mike, Eli Griffin, and miscellaneous strange and wonderful Creole’s who participate in a story of mystery, menace and cruel mistakes.

The book is crafted by the sure hand of a seasoned historian who has previously demonstrated his knowledge of the Civil War era (New York Times bestseller The Widow of the South). This new book is a satisfying story imbued with intrigue, romance, and redemption. The characters are unforgettable; haunted people in a steamy, mysterious and pestilent city, careening from pain to grace, and back again.

Reviewed by Marcia Jo