Introduction

Charles Frazier's first novel, Cold Mountain, met with substantial critical and popular acclaim immediately upon its publication in 1997. Inspired by family stories about W. P. Inman, Frazier's great-great-uncle, Cold Mountain combines fact and fiction to tell a tale of love and hope against the backdrop of the American Civil War, which took place between 1861 and 1865. Frazier's Inman is a wounded Confederate soldier who deserts from the army and walks across North Carolina to Cold Mountain, his childhood home, where he hopes to find his beloved Ada Monroe, a minister's daughter, waiting for him. Along the way, Inman endures many harsh experiences while trying to avoid the Home Guard, local troops charged with capturing and returning deserters—also known as "outliers"—using whatever brutal means necessary. Meanwhile, Ada, a sheltered city girl, must learn to manage her farm...