NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Robert Hicks, author of the new novel, Widow of the South, will speak on Oct. 20, at 7 p.m. on the campus of Vanderbilt University. The discussion will be held in the main Commodore Ballroom in the New Student Life Center.
Widow of the South, released Aug. 30, is an historical fiction based on the true story of Carrie McGavock and the five-hour Civil War Battle of Franklin where 9,000 soldiers were killed. McGavock’s home, the Carnton Plantation, had been appropriated as a field hospital for the battle. The novel follows a love affair between the married McGavock and Confederate Sergeant Zachariah Cashwell, who looses a leg in the battle. For 40 years after the battle, she tended the private cemetery on her property where more than 1,000 soldiers were laid to rest, thus earning her moniker “Widow of the South.”
Hicks, a music publisher and artist manager in the Nashville country music scene, stumbled across the story while working to restore the Carnton Plantation in his hometown of Franklin, Tenn. Active in the field of historic preservation, Hicks has served on the boards of the Carnton Plantation, the Tennessee State Museum, the Williamson County Historical Society, and the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts. He currently leads Franklin’s Charge: A Vision and Campaign for the Preservation of Historic Open Space in the fight to secure and preserve both battlefield and other historic open space in Williamson County.
During the discussion Hicks will discuss the novel and its historical background. The dialogue will be followed by a question and answer period, after which Hicks will sign copies of the book. The Vanderbilt University Bookstore will be selling the novel before and after the event outside the ballroom.
The event is being sponsored by Kappa Sigma Fraternity. It is open to the public; however, seating is limited. Admission is $5, but is free with a copy of the novel. Tickets will be available at the door and will be sold in advance beginning Oct. 10 in the Sarratt Box Office. All proceeds will benefit the historic Carnton Plantation.
For more information call Chris Clark at (617) 571-7327. For more Vanderbilt news, visit http://www.vanderbilt.edu/news.
Media contact: Amber N. Sims, (615) 322-NEWS
amber.sims@vanderbilt.edu