Sympathy Saturday....Paperback Novel 'Widow of the South'

I write this post as the great granddaughter of a Confederate soldier and historian of a family whose lives were lived before, during and after the Civil War.  I write this as one who is interested in the history of, not only the Civil War period, but of our country's history from the Colonials to present day.

I've included this post in GeneaBloggers Sympathy Saturday as an opportunity to share a recently acquired paperback, The Widow of the South. (link to book and author...HERE).  Brief synopsis from back cover...Carnton Plantation, 1894:  Carrie McGavock is an old woman who tends the graves of almost 1,500 soldiers buried.  As she walks among the dead, an elderly man appears...the same soldier she met that fateful day long ago.  Today, he asks if the cemetery has room for one more.

The cover of this book caught my eye as I scanned through dozens of shelves in a used book shop.  After reading the back cover and learning it was based on a true story, I knew it had to be added to the stack of TBR (to be read) paperbacks.  Paperbacks...the other reason for writing this post.

Yes, I have a collection of paperbacks...not for collection sake or value, but for research and for the joy of reading...as time allows...reason for TBR Stack!  In this day and age most of my reading time is done right here on the computer.  And as amazing as it is to have information at the click of a button and have it flow through my fingertips to this virtual paper, I still love holding a book and turning pages.

Paperbacks are also known as softback or softcover books.   In the early 19th century improvements in the printing, publishing and book marketing made paperbacks available and affordable.

 In early 20th Century America, the term pocket book became synonymous with paperback, and the mass-market of paperbacks took off.  The first mass-marketed paperback printed in the US was an edition of The Good Earth by Pearl Buck and today it is highly collectible.

I don't know about you, but I browse paperbacks not by their title or author, but by their cover.  As it turns out, once publishers realized the importance of cover art as the main selling feature of paperbacks, a whole new area for graphic artist, genre writers and collectors was born.  Some collectors bought paperbacks solely based on their cover. 

I have only just begun reading Widow of the South. And although my intention was to read it for the pleasure of holding and turning pages,  it has already added information to my Georgia ancestors research.  One of my Confederate cousins died at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee. 

A true contradiction of the adage...'You can't judge a book by it's cover.'