海角大神

鈥淚鈥檝e come to accept that our debt may stretch to one of those generational Bible curses,鈥� says Varina Davis, the title character in听痴补谤颈苍补, Charles Frazier鈥檚 new novel. The wife of Confederate President Jefferson Davis is speaking about the debt her husband owes for lives lost in the Civil War. But she鈥檚 also speaking of her own debt, as someone who enjoyed the benefits of a society built on the backs of enslaved people.

Frazier follows to a large degree the historical record of Varina鈥檚 life, weaving her actual words into the book鈥檚 dialogue along with those from his own imagination. He faced a more difficult task in 鈥淰arina鈥� than in 鈥淐old Mountain,鈥� his first novel, in which Inman, the lead character, was not modeled on a real person but inspired by family lore. Varina鈥檚 story is more complicated than Inman鈥檚: Instead of trying to forget the war, she feels an obligation to constantly recall the fundamental moral failures that led up to it. 鈥淩emembering doesn鈥檛 change anything 鈥� it will always have happened. But forgetting won鈥檛 erase it either,鈥� she says.

Varina takes on this burden precisely because her husband refuses to acknowledge his own culpability. A prideful man, Jefferson can鈥檛 admit to being wrong, nor does he ever apologize for his decisions, which resulted in so much bloodshed on both sides. Varina had premonitions of the South鈥檚 defeat. She told a friend that 鈥渢he way it would all play out was that the Southern states would secede and cobble together a breakaway country and would make Jeff its president and it would all fail disastrously.鈥�

Not surprisingly, given Varina鈥檚 sentiments, the Davises鈥� marriage was a rocky one. But it also had periods of calm, during which Varina bore six children, five of whom predeceased her. Despite her antipathy to many of Jefferson鈥檚 ideas, Varina completed his memoir after his death in 1889. She later tells an acquaintance, 鈥淲hen I wrote Jeff鈥檚 memoir, it felt like solitary confinement inside his head.鈥�

The person to whom Varina, nearing the end of her life, confides all these memories is a middle-aged African-American man, Jimmie, who as a small boy was taken in by Varina and lived in the Confederate White House in Richmond, Va. (As hard as it may be to believe, the historical Jimmie really existed, and he lived with the Davis family and was treated as one of their own children.) Varina lost track of him when the family was captured after the fall of Richmond.

In the novel, Frazier imagines Jimmie, now called James, as an adult searching for clues about his past. As James and Varina talk during a series of Sunday afternoon visits, he becomes not only a seeker of information but also a teacher on the subject of black people. Varina may have regrets and misgivings about the war, but she still carries more than a whiff of white privilege that makes her ignorant of how African-Americans experienced slavery. James sets her straight.

He calls her out when she reminisces about 鈥渢hose days when we all just took care of each other,鈥� asking who she is referring to as 鈥渨e.鈥� If she meant slaves, he says, 鈥測ou only remember what they allowed you to remember.... [T]hey kept their misery to themselves.... Think of it as a great gift, a mark of affection. Their protection of your memory.鈥� Varina鈥檚 tart rejoinder: 鈥淟et鈥檚 don鈥檛 start getting ironic with each other.鈥�

鈥淰arina鈥� can be read on a number of levels. Many people will enjoy the tale of a whip-smart and sharp-witted woman who nearly outran federal bounty hunters after the fall of Richmond. Others will be fascinated by the story of the difficult marriage between these two strong-willed people. On a more subtle level 鈥� and Frazier鈥檚 comments to an interviewer lend themselves to such a reading 鈥� 鈥淰arina鈥� can be seen as a reminder that a national reckoning over the legacy of slavery has yet to take place.

Frazier鈥檚 Varina recognizes that her participation in, and acceptance of, the culture of her birth make her complicit in the enslavement of human beings. She didn鈥檛 need to personally own slaves to be culpable. And her rejection of the premise of slavery did not make her any less responsible.

Frazier shows in Varina鈥檚 story that regret is only the first step. Much harder is the process of coming to terms with the burdens of slavery. The harmful effects are felt by the descendants not only of enslaved people but also of those who profited from their toil. As Frazier said in the interview, 鈥淭he debates over the legacy of the Civil War [are] not going away, and I think it鈥檚 ... because we haven鈥檛 managed to resolve those issues of race and slavery that have been haunting us for 150 years....鈥�

鈥淰arina鈥� is a challenging novel and, while not as readily appealing and as flowingly written as 鈥淐old Mountain,鈥� it provokes thought and encourages reflection on one of the most difficult issues of our time.
April Austin regularly reviews books for 海角大神.