From Library Journal
This monumental novel is set at the end of the Civil War and follows the journey of a wounded Confederate soldier named Inman as he returns home. Interwoven is the story of Ada, the woman he loves. Ada, who was raised in genteel society, cannot cope with the rigors of war until a woman called Ruby arrives to help her. Inman comes across memorable characters like the goatwoman, who lives off the secret herbs in the woods and Sara, a woman stranded with an infant who is assaulted by Yankee soldiers whom Inman later kills. After a long, threatening journey, Inman finally arrives home to Ada, "ravaged, worn ragged and wary and thin." His momentary homecoming, however, comes to a tragic end. A remarkable effort that opens up a historical past that will enrich readers not only with its story but with its strong characters. Highly recommended for all collections.
-?David A. Berona, Univ. of New England, Biddeford, Me.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
The Civil War's last months are the setting for this first novel by Frazier, erstwhile college teacher and author of travel books and stories. Inman, a wounded Confederate soldier, leaves the hospital before his gashed neck heals enough to get him sent back to war. Still weak, he heads for the mountains, where a minister's daughter named Ada is his objective. Inman's return could hardly be timelier for the Charleston-raised Ada: her father has died, and she finds she knows little about operating a farm. Frazier blends the story of Inman's journey with that of Ada's efforts, with the help of a drifter named Ruby, to wring a subsistence living from the neglected land; in the background are the yelping dogs of war (most dramatically, gangs chasing Confederate deserters like Inman), as well as hints of changes the end of war will bring. Cold Mountain, based on a Frazier family story, is a satisfying read, though for some readers elements of the story (e.g., Ada's dependence) are anachronistic. Mary Carroll
From Kirkus Reviews
A grim story about a tough, resourceful Southern family in the Civil War is somewhat submerged by the weight of lyrical detail piled on the tale, and by the slow pace of the telling. There's no doubt that Frazier can write; the problem is that he stops so often to savor the sheer pleasure of the act of writing in this debut effort. Inman, seeing that the end of the war is near, decides to leave his regiment and go back home to Ada, the bright, stubborn woman he loves. His adventures traversing a chaotic, impoverished land, Ada's struggles to preserve her father's farm, and the harsh, often powerful tales of the rough-hewn individuals they encounter take up most of the narrative. The tragic climax is convincing but somewhat rushed, given the many dilatory scenes that have preceded it. Frazier has Cormac McCarthy's gift for rendering the pitch and tang of regional speech, and for catching some of the true oddity of human nature, but he doesn't yet possess McCarthy's ferocious focus. A promising but overlong, uneven debut. (First printing of 40,000; author tour) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
National Book Award Prize for Fiction (National Book Foundation)
Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction (The Academy of Arts and Letters)
Charles Frazier has taken on a daunting taskand has done extraordinarily well by it a Whitmanesque foray into America: into its hugeness, its freshness, its scope and its soul.” James Polk, The New York Times Book Review
Charles Frazier’s feeling for the Southern landscape is reverential and beautifully composed. He has written an astonishing first novel.” Alfred Kazin, The New York Review of Books
An astonishing debut . . . The genuinely romantic saga of Ada and Inman is a page turner that attains the status of literature.” Malcolm Jones, Newsweek
A richly rewarding first novel . . . Wonderfully convincing, finely detailed.” Christian Science Monitor
Strikingly beautiful . . . In its vivid evocation of a time and place, its steady storytelling momentum, and its unabashed affirmation of a fiction that takes moral choice seriously, Cold Mountain calls to mind Snow Falling on Cedars.” Newsday
A great reada stirring Civil War tale told with epic sweep [and] loaded with vivid historical detail.” People
As close to a masterpiece as American writing is going to come these days.” Fred Chappell, Raleigh News & Observer
This novel’s landscape is finely drawn, full of dark beauty and presentiment, and so are its characters.” The New Yorker
Measured and graceful . . . savor it. You’ll find the characters living in your head for a long time.” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
An exciting work of fiction.” The Washington Post Book World
A rare and extraordinary book . . . heart-stopping . . . spellbinding.” San Francisco Chronicle
A haunting, beautifully written tale.” Deirdre Donahue, USA Today
Deserves all the literary prizes that might be lying about.” Kaye Gibbons
"The novel is above all a sustained flight of the imagination.”Daily Telegraph
Cold Mountain offers compelling glimpses into the surreal horrors of [the Civil War]. . . . Inman’s gripping odyssey alternates with the story of princess-turned-pauper Ada. . . . Civil War buffs, old-time music devotees and love-story suckersthere’s something in this book for everyone” Beth Macy, The Roanoke Times
Frazier’s spare prose is rich in detail and nuance and never misses a beat in evoking the Civil War-era South. . . . Open this book to any page and you will find a description, simile, metaphor or word choice to take you breath away.” Eva Ciabattoni, Los Altos Town Crier
[A] spectacular book. . . . About loneliness and isolation and reaching out.” Ann Klaiman, The Salida Mountain Mail
A remarkable first novel, a romance of love, of friendship, of family, of land. Frazier has inhaled the spirit of the age and breathes it into the reader’s being.”Erica Wager, The Times (London)
Heartbreakingly beautiful . . . elegantly told and convincing down to the last haunting detail.” John Berendt, author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
A superb novelthrilling, richly detailed and powerful. I was spellbound.” Frank Conroy
This is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time, and I cried when it was over. It’s simply a miracle.” Larry Brown, author of Father and Son
A parallel narrative: Inman is seriously injured at the end of the Civil War and begins a dangerous journey home, and Ada has struggled to learn firsthand how to keep alive on her family farm. A beautifully written love story, with much to discuss.” Robin Powers, St. Helens Book Shop, St. Helens, OR, Book Sense quote
A beautiful book, written in exquisite prose.” Kate Atkinson
Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain is the most impressive and enthralling first novel I have read in a long time. It is a magnetic story, ambitious in scope, with richly developed characters and beautiful evocations of landscape. Though set in an earlier time, it is contemporary in the profoundest sense, with resonance of A Farewell to Arms.” Willie Morris
Charles Frazier’s novel is at once spare and eloquent, a panorama that the author stills long enough to make a portraita very evocative portrait of Inman, a soldier who is trying to escape a ruined world. Interspersed with so many moments of sadness, the many moments of compassion seem entirely convincing and are very affecting; when Ada wanted to tell him how she had come to be what she was,’ the understatementas it is so often in Cold Mountainis almost shattering. And then comes the ending.” Ann Beattie
This novel is so magnificentin every conceivable aspect, and others previously unimaginedthat it has occurred to me that the shadow of this book, and the joy I received in reading it, will fall over every other book I ever read. It seems even more possible to never want to read another book, so wonderful is this one. Cold Mountain is one of the great accomplishments in American literature.” Rick Bass
From the Inside Flap
National Book Award WinnerCold Mountain is an extraordinary novel about a soldier's perilous journey back to his beloved at the end of the Civil War. At once a magnificent love story and a harrowing account of one man's long walk home, Cold Mountain introduces a stunning new talent in American literature.
Based on local history and family stories passed down by the author's great-great-grandfather, Cold Mountain is the tale of a wounded soldier, Inman, who walks away from the ravages of the war and back home to his prewar sweetheart, Ada. Inman's odyssey through the devastated landscape of the soon-to-be-defeated South interweaves with Ada's struggle to revive her father's farm, with the help of an intrepid young drifter named Ruby. As their long-separated lives begin to converge at the close of the war, Inman and Ada confront the vastly transformed world they've been delivered.
Charles Frazier reveals marked insight into man's relationship to the land and the dangers of solitude. He also shares with the great twentieth-century novelists a keen observation of a society undergoing change. Cold Mountain re-creates a world gone by that speaks eloquently to our time.
"This is one of the best books I've read in a long time, and I cried when it was over. It's simply a miracle."--Larry Brown
"Cold Mountain is a heartbreakingly beautiful story, elegantly told and utterly convincing down to the last haunting detail."--John Berendt
"Cold Mountain is the best Civil War novel since Michael Shaara's The Killer Angels. Written in a style equal to that of Shelby Foote, this novel deserves any and all prizes that might be lying about."--Kaye Gibbons
"This novel is so magnificent-in every conceivable aspect, and others previously unimagined--that it occurred to me that the shadow of this book, and the joy I received in reading it, will fall over every other book I ever read. It seems even possible to never want to read another book, so wonderful is this one. Cold Mountain is one of the great accomplishments in American literature."--Rick Bass
"Charles Frazier's novel is at once spare and eloquent, a panorama that the author stills long enough to make a portrait--a very evocative portrait of Inman, a soldier who is trying to escape a ruined world. Interspersed with so many moments of sadness, the many moments of compassion seem entirely convincing and are very affecting; when Ada 'wanted to tell him how she had come to be what she was,' the understatement--as it is so often in Cold Mountain--is almost shattering. And then comes the ending."--Ann Beattie
"Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain is the most impressive and enthralling first novel I have read in a long time. It is a magnetic story, ambitious in scope, with richly developed characters and beautiful evocations of landscape. Though set in earlier times, it is contemporary in the profoundest sense, with resonance of A Farewell to Arms."--Willie Morris
Charles Frazier grew up in the mountains of North Carolina. He now lives in Raleigh with his wife and daughter, where they raise horses. Cold Mountain is his first novel.