When most people think of the Civil War, they automatically think of the North as the protagonist of the story.  Cold Mountain, written by Charles Frazier, is unique in how the protagonist is southern.  W. P. Inman is a Confederate Army deserter; he was wounded fighting for something that he never believed in. This book also surrounds Inman’s love interest, Ada Monroe, a minister’s daughter who recently moved to a rural community in Cold Mountain.  All of the characters are strong characters that grow and mature during the course of the novel. The book over all had themes of self-knowledge, meaning, and intuition.

I love the determination Inman has as he journeys to reach love.  Throughout his journey, Inman has a sort of spiritual journey; he uses his book, Bartram’s Travels as a sort of guide through the way, he also meats a number of colorful characters. Ada is lost; she doesn’t know where she belongs and how to make a living in the beginning of the book.  Then she meets Ruby, who helps her and they become great friends.  Ada learns a lot from Ruby and Ruby rubs off on her; as Ada matures more, their friendship grew stronger. Ruby is an essential piece to Ada’s character development.

This book has many ups and downs as Inman travels and Ada grows.  With a lot of moral questions through his journey Inman learns so much about himself and the world.