First published 2005
Carrie McGavock lives on a Tennessee plantation when the Civil War's Battle of Franklin erupts around her home. The five-hour battle leaves 9,200 casualties scattered across the countryside. McGavock opens her doors to transform her house into a makeshift field hospital. Wounded and dying soldiers fill every room. Four Confederate generals breathe their last breaths under her roof. The carnage overwhelms local burial grounds, so McGavock creates a private cemetery on her property. She personally tends to more than 1,000 graves for four decades after the war ends. Her quiet acts of mercy become a lifetime commitment to honor the dead. This debut novel draws from McGavock's true story to explore how one woman's compassion transcends the brutal divisions of war.
Genres: american-civil-war, american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, southern-gothic, 19th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: based-on-true-story, historical-figure
Setting: Tennessee, Franklin
Period: Civil War
720 pages · Hardcover · Warner
Content warnings: death, war