First published 1995
Kate Stone is twenty years old when the Civil War erupts around her family's Louisiana plantation in 1861. She lives at Brokenburn with her widowed mother, five brothers, and younger sister, managing their estate in northeastern Louisiana as the conflict intensifies. When Union General Grant launches his campaign against Vicksburg, Kate and her family must abandon their home ahead of the advancing federal armies. They flee west, seeking safety as refugees in Texas while their world collapses behind them. Kate documents their journey in her journal, recording the daily struggles of displacement, the changing behavior of their slaves, and the gradual destruction of the plantation society she has always known. Her entries span from May 1861 through November 1865, with additional reflections in 1867 and 1868. Through Kate's eyes, readers witness the intimate reality of a Southern family's survival during the war's most devastating years. Her observations reveal the harsh transformation of civilian life, the challenges of managing a household in wartime, and the emotional toll of watching an entire way of life disappear.
Genres: american-civil-war, american-fiction, 19th-century, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: displacement, survival, witness-to-history
Setting: Louisiana, Texas, Vicksburg
Period: 1861-1865, 1867-1868
441 pages · Kindle Edition · LSU Press
Content warnings: war