Confederates uses the United States Civil War as a setting for a more personal conflict between neighbors. In the midst of the war's climactic battle—Antietam—another conflict is underway. Ephie Bumpass' husband Usaph and Ephie's lover Decatur Cate are thrown together to fight in the Shenandoah Volunteers. Cate's emasculating injury in the battle is a symbolic punishment for his sin.[2]
Publishing historyedit
After the novel's initial publication by Collins in the UK and Australia in 1979,[3] it was republished by Harper & Row in USA in 1980,[4] and later in various paperback editions.
Critical receptionedit
Writing in The Canberra Times Mark Thomas noted: "Confederates evinces Keneally's fascination with the mechanics of fighting. He examines rigorously how a battle works, what shapes a coward, how one man can shoot another...One of Keneally's problems may be uncertainty at the kind of story he is telling. Confederates is not only set in Victorian era but often reads like a Victorian novel, replete with implausible coincidences, an extensive gallery of stock figures and characterised by inordinate length and a self-indulgent author."[5]
A reviewer in Kirkus Reviews called it "Keneally's best novel yet, ripest fruit of an imagination that has been grinding for years in an effort to energize history within its fiction—sometimes head-on, sometimes obliquely, but never with quite full success." They concluded that the novel was "A grave and breathtaking book, a model historical novel by a writer growing ever better."[6]
confederates, novel, confederates, 1979, novel, australian, author, thomas, keneally, which, uses, american, civil, main, subject, matter, confederatesfirst, edition, coverauthorthomas, keneallycountryaustralialanguageenglishpublishercollins, england, australi. Confederates is a 1979 novel by the Australian author Thomas Keneally which uses the American Civil War as its main subject matter 1 ConfederatesFirst edition coverAuthorThomas KeneallyCountryAustraliaLanguageEnglishPublisherCollins England and AustraliaPublication date1979Media typePrint Hardback amp Paperback Pages427 ppISBN0 00 222141 1OCLC6090459Dewey Decimal823LC ClassPZ4 K336 Co 1979 PR9619 3 K46Preceded byPassenger Followed byThe Cut Rate Kingdom Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Publishing history 3 Critical reception 4 Awards and nominations 5 See also 6 ReferencesSynopsis editConfederates uses the United States Civil War as a setting for a more personal conflict between neighbors In the midst of the war s climactic battle Antietam another conflict is underway Ephie Bumpass husband Usaph and Ephie s lover Decatur Cate are thrown together to fight in the Shenandoah Volunteers Cate s emasculating injury in the battle is a symbolic punishment for his sin 2 Publishing history editAfter the novel s initial publication by Collins in the UK and Australia in 1979 3 it was republished by Harper amp Row in USA in 1980 4 and later in various paperback editions Critical reception editWriting in The Canberra Times Mark Thomas noted Confederates evinces Keneally s fascination with the mechanics of fighting He examines rigorously how a battle works what shapes a coward how one man can shoot another One of Keneally s problems may be uncertainty at the kind of story he is telling Confederates is not only set in Victorian era but often reads like a Victorian novel replete with implausible coincidences an extensive gallery of stock figures and characterised by inordinate length and a self indulgent author 5 A reviewer in Kirkus Reviews called it Keneally s best novel yet ripest fruit of an imagination that has been grinding for years in an effort to energize history within its fiction sometimes head on sometimes obliquely but never with quite full success They concluded that the novel was A grave and breathtaking book a model historical novel by a writer growing ever better 6 Awards and nominations editBooker Prize shortlisted 1979 7 See also edit The Sites of War in the Fiction of Thomas Keneally by Peter Pierce Australian Literary Studies vol 12 no 4 October 1986 pp 442 452 1979 in Australian literatureReferences edit Austlit Confederates by Thomas Keneally Austlit Retrieved 7 October 2023 Thomas Keneally Confederates Collins National Library of Australia Retrieved 7 October 2023 Confederates Harper amp Row National Library of Australia Retrieved 7 October 2023 Gore as Keneally goes into full scale war The Canberra Times 15 March 1980 p13 Retrieved 7 October 2023 Confederates by Thomas Keneally Kirkus Reviews 1 September 1980 Retrieved 7 October 2023 The Booker Prize 1979 The Booker Prizes Retrieved 7 October 2023 nbsp This article about a war novel of the 1970s is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it See guidelines for writing about novels Further suggestions might be found on the article s talk page vte nbsp nbsp This article on a novel about the American Civil War is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it See guidelines for writing about novels Further suggestions might be found on the article s talk page vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Confederates novel amp oldid 1178978960, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
