Jacob's Ladder: A Story of Virginia During the War

Rating:
Summary: One of the True Classics of Civil War Fiction
Review: For my money, "Jacob's Ladder" should stand near the top of any short list of the finest Civil War fiction and certainly stands head and shoulders above recent Civil War novels from Shaara, Frazier, Bahr, et al. I was absorbed by every one of its many pages and found the novel unfailingly believable, whether it documented the cruelities and hypocrisies of slavery, the lavish lifestyles of the blockade runners, or the hardships of everyday civilians and soldiers in Civil War Virginia.

Here are partisans--an increasingly popular and overblown subject of Civil War fiction--that are credible in their frightening amorality, and common soldiers of the Confederacy who emerge as truly heroic in their quotidian battle to survive the horrors of war. In fact, McCaig's dry-eyed and lifelike character protrayals are the greatest achievement of "Jacob's Ladder," or would be if his retelling of the last battles of the Army of Northern Virginia weren't such a tour de force--and so deeply affecting. At any rate, here is an author who is just as gifted at creating characters as he is at recreating war and its many terrors.

I wholeheartedly recommend this epic treatment to lovers of American history and to all lovers of a good tale. I do have one niggling question, however: Why did the publisher choose to place a detail from the famous diorama treatment of the Battle of Atlanta on the cover of this novel so intimately connected to the battles for Petersburg and Richmond?

Rating:
Summary: An outstanding historical novel
Review: I read this novel last year. This was well in advance of the recent revelations about Strom Thurmond's unacknowledged child by his family's black maid back when Strom was in his 20s and the young lady was 16. The hypocrisy of that episode brought to mind the story of Duncan and Midge. And of course there is a current film with Anthony Hopkins where he portrays a young black man who "passed" for white to advance in the USA back in the days when this nation was overly obsessed with skin pigment.
This book can be appreciated on many levels. There really was an effort made to record the oral narratives of former slaves although by the 30s, very few were still alive or lucid enough to provide accurate histories. The author's skillful use of this actual event in the 30s to construct the storyline was impressive.
The hardships and deprivations of the landed Virginia planter aristocracy during and after the war are vividly brought to life. The lives of the slaves and the world they inhabited are also recreated in this book as in no other I've ever read though sadly we dont have much lit dealing with the day to day reality of being a slave in the old South.
We read this book and we find ourselves cheering Midge as she ultimately triumphs and earns a spot in "respectable society". But at what cost? Early on in the book we learn that Midge/Maggie/Marguerite ---perhaps unique among her fellow slaves--had the gift of mimicry and could "talk white". That talent--coupled with her lighter skin--- so early displayed in the novel will carry Midge along thru the rest of her life.
I dont know if anyone has ever bought the rights to this novel and I'm sure a politically correct Hollywood would badly mangle the storyline, but the role of Maggie/Marguerite would be great for a young Halle Berry.
One of my favorite lines is spoken by Duncan to a Confederate soldier and fellow alum of VMI: "Boy we sure did teach them Yankees a lesson back there" [referring to a battle] and the reply: "Yeah, and they keep on not learning it!"

Rating:
Summary: A gripping, authentic novel of VA and the Civil War
Review: Not since Shaara's "The Killer Angels" has anyone written a novel so expressive of the passion and agony wrapped up in this terrible war. McCaig's memorable characters weave a tight and authentic story of love and honor and compassion that does more to express humankind's for familial relationship than any book I've ever read. Here is a genuine story of race relations. Plus, the novel is absolutely true to its setting: McCaig knows Virginia and Virginians like a native.

Monty S. Leitch Pilot, VA