The Confederate General Rides North A Novel [Paperback]

Reading Group Guide

 

 

1.  The Confederate General Rides Northis a coming-of-age novel, about Katherine coping with difficult events and being forced to grow up quickly.  Though the trip she and her mother take lasts just under a week, Kat changes her attitudes about a number of things; what are they? 

 

2.   The story of Katherine and her mother’s journey is told exclusively from Kat’s point of view.  In what ways would the novel be different if the story had been told by Kat’s mother in first person narration?  How would the novel be different if third person narration had been used and the thoughts of both Kat and her mother were revealed?  What might have been lost in a different sort of narration?

 

3.   Discuss how Katherine uses her love of Civil War history to cope with her personal difficulties.  How does the author convey this in the italicized sections?  How does the “voice” of the italicized (3rd person) sections differ from that of the primary 1st person narrative of the book?  Does the voice of the “italicized” sections change over the course of the book?

 

4.   The journey in the novel takes place early in the summer of 1968.  In what ways and from whom does Kat learn about some of the important political events of 1968?  How does she make sense of this information and what effect does it have on her as she travels with her mother?  What memories or knowledge do you have about the political and cultural events in the U.S. in 1968?

 

5.   What are the various civil wars in the novel?  How is Kat involved in these “wars”?  Are there places in the novel where Kat begins to make connections among some of these “wars”?

 

6.   Discuss youlc™