Robert Hicks Book Signing September 26, 2009

Robert Hicks’s New York Times bestselling first novel, The Widow of the South was hailed as “perhaps the best Civil War novel since Cold Mountain” (Providence Journal) and “worthy of a place alongside The Killer Angels, Rifles for Watie and Shiloh” (Kirkus Reviews). Based on a little-known slice of southern history, Hick’s wonderfully imagined narrative was embraced by critics and readers across the country. Now, four year after that impressive debut, Hicks returns with another equally evocative southern historical novel, A SEPARATE COUNTRY (Grand Central Publishing Hardcover; September 23, 2009; $25.99).

As with The Widow of the South, A SEPARATE COUNTRY is based in truth. Set in New Orleans, it tells the tragic post-Civil War story of Confederate General John Bell Hood, crippled by war wounds and defeat, ravaged by devastating financial and personal misfortune. Struggling, too, with an inability to admit his failures, he falls in love and marries Anna Marie, who teaches him to love and to be loved – and that love transforms him as he sets out to battle one last foe: yellow fever. An extraordinary story of sacrifice,
devotion, and hope through the very darkest of times, this family’s unforgettable story is brought back to life
against the equally unforgettable backdrop of nineteenth century New Orleans.