Audio book: John Jakes' SAVANNAH

We chose John Jakes’ Savannah or A Gift for Mr. Lincoln as the audio book accompanying us to Virginia because it is an historical novel that seemed also light-hearted, our requirement for audio books used for the road. Too much detail or too serious a topic is apt to draw attention from driving. That’s a no-no. Jakes is also the author of North and South Trilogy, lending him some authority in the Civil War period. This is an 8.75 hour long recording.

War is hell, and we all know how Sherman burned Atlanta, proving once again that the way to stop a war and the killing is actually to be brutal and to make the enemy understand the consequences of its actions. Sherman’s actions earned him a reputation that frightened Georgians standing in the way of his inexorable march to the coast, and Savannah stood in his path. Word of his approach reached the glorious and charming old city far before he did, and the citizens and politicians were petrified. Sherman’s goal was to hand Savannah to Lincoln as a Christmas present. His goal was not to burn the city, but to allow it to exist in the spirit of the season.

Into that setting, Jakes places Sara Lester, a war-widowed rice plantation owner and mother of a feisty, Confederate-loyal, independent, 12-year old daughter, Hattie. Throw into the mix a politician (and relative), Judge Cincinnatus Drewgood (not surprisingly reminiscent of a Dickensian character as Jakes is a life-long Dickens admirer), greedy for Sara’s plantation, a gangly teenager, Legrand Parmenter, with an affection for Hattie and itching to go to war, several scraggly, dishonest Yankee soldiers out to do the best they can for themselves through looting on their foraging missions, and an Indiana Yankee Sergeant who saves a freed slave and slowly begins to open up his mind to the equality of men. Wait, I’m not through. The war is covered by newspaper reporters, and one Yankee from New York begins to grow fond of the Widow Lester. Hmmmmm....

There’s a lot going on here, but Jakes writes simply. This is really a holiday story of people in a war-torn 1864 world trying their best to keep some form of normalcy in their lives. Two truly prized possessions exist in this story: Amanda, Hattie’s pet pig who is kept even though she, as the humans, is sometimes close to starvation, and Sara’s friend Bea’s piano, played by Bea and the news reporter from New York. They are statements of the values that remain despite the horror of the times. There is the feeling of good will toward men by some very powerful people here, but there is also a feeling that there are always those out to exploit others and enrich themselves.

This may not be Jakes’ best work, but it is a good companion to the road, particularly when you’re headed South.