Cold Mountain

Set during the American Civil War, this lyrical novel follows Inman, a wounded Confederate soldier making his way home to his beloved Ada.

Inman lies wounded in a Virginia hospital, haunted by the violence he's witnessed in the Civil War. Unable to bear any more fighting, he decides to desert and walk home to Cold Mountain, North Carolina, where his beloved Ada waits for him. Meanwhile, Ada struggles to survive on her family's farm after her father's death, aided by the tough, practical Ruby who teaches her the skills she needs to live off the land.

Frazier's novel is simultaneously a war story, a love story, and a meditation on the relationship between humans and the natural world. Inman's journey home takes him through a landscape devastated by war, where he encounters deserters, outlaws, witches, and ordinary people trying to survive extraordinary circumstances.

The novel's structure alternates between Inman's picaresque journey and Ada's more settled but equally challenging life on the farm. Both characters are learning how to live authentically—Inman by rejecting the violence that has consumed his life, Ada by connecting with the land and developing practical skills.

Frazier's prose is influenced by 19th-century American writing, particularly the work of Emerson and Thoreau. His descriptions of the natural world are particularly beautiful, showing the healing power of landscape and the ways that connection to place can provide spiritual restoration. The novel suggests that the Civil War was not only a political and military conflict but an environmental catastrophe that disrupted the relationship between people and the land.

The book's portrayal of the war's impact on ordinary people—particularly women left to fend for themselves—provides a different perspective on this familiar historical period. Ada's transformation from a sheltered, educated lady to a competent farmer represents a broader theme about the need for self-reliance and practical knowledge.

Cold Mountain won the National Book Award and was adapted into a successful film, establishing Frazier as an important voice in contemporary American historical fiction.