Cold Mountain

A soldier wounded in the Civil War, Inman turns his back on the carnage of the battlefield and begins the treacherous journey home to Cold Mountain, and to Ada, the woman he loved before the war began.As Inman attempts to make his way across the mountains, through the devastated landscape of a soon-to-be-defeated South, Ada struggles to make a living from the land her once-wealthy father left when he died. Neither knows if the other is still alive.In 1997, Charles Frazier’s debut novel Cold Mountain made publishing history when it sailed to the top of The New York Times best-seller list for sixty-one weeks, won numerous literary awards, including the National Book Award, and went on to sell over three million copies. It was the inspiration for the Oscar-winning film directed by Anthony Minghella and starring Nicole Kidman, Jude Law, and Renee Zellweger. 'A beautiful book written in exquisite prose.'  Kate Atkinson'Magnificent . . . this wonderful novel presents the terrible, discordant reality of life in a war. Profoundly moving, it raises all the big questions.' Observer'A Whitmanesque foray into America: into its hugeness, its freshness, its scope and its soul.'  James Polk, The New York Times Book Review'An astonishing debut . . . a genuinely romantic saga that attains the status of literature.'  Malcolm Jones, Newsweek'As close to a masterpiece as American writing is going to come these days.'  Fred Chappell, Raleigh News & Observer'Charles Frazier’s feeling for the Southern landscape is reverential and beautifully composed. He has written an astonishing first novel.'  Alfred Kazin, The New York Review of Books '... a heartbreakingly beautiful story, elegantly told, and utterly convincing down to the last haunting detail.'  John Berendt, author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil