First lady of the Confederacy

by Joan E Cashin

In this first academic biography of Jefferson Davis's wife, Varina, Cashin (Ohio State Univ.) presents an engaging look at the Confederacy's first lady, who surprisingly did not believe in the Southern cause. Much of the book, however, focuses on Davis's life after the Civil War, when she struggled to support her penniless husband and later managed her own survival as a widow for over 25 years. Varina Davis drew vast criticism during the postbellum years from her fellow Southerners for her controversial views on the war, particularly when she proclaimed that God's will had provided the North's victory. In spite of the disparagement, Davis spend much of her later life publicly working toward mending the rift between North and South, moving to New York and even befriending the wife of former Union general Ulysses Grant. While the narrative occasionally leans toward overt sympathy, Cashin's study presents an otherwise objective analysis of the tragic Davis and her often-vilified husband.