The Judas Field A Novel of the Civil War [Paperback]

After returning from the Civil War, Cass Wakefield means to live out the rest of his days in his hometown in Mississippi. But when a childhood friend asks him to accompany her to Franklin, Tennessee, to recover the bodies of her father and brother from the battlefield where they died, Cass cannot refuse. As they make their way north in the company of two of Cass's brothers-in-arms, memories of the war emerge with overwhelming vividness. Before long the group has assembled on the haunted ground of Franklin, where past and present--the legacy of war and the narrow hope of redemption--will draw each of them to a painful reckoning.

Discussion Questions

1. How does Cass's faith evolve throughout this story, beginning at his mother's deathbed and ending with Queenolia and Alison's burial? What role does religion play for the other characters?

2. Is it possible to hold Cass and the others accountable for the violence they do during the war, for example burning down the house and beating up the owners (pp. 136-138), or for the violence at the end of the story? Is there any sense of right and wrong during the battle scenes in the novel?

3. I got to feel something, Lucian says to Cass early in the novel, or I will die. What does he mean? Is Cass right that It is better not to feel anything ? Are the two men as numb as they think they are? Are there times when numbness is desirable, when it helps to save people?

4. How would you describe the novel's portrayal of organized religion? How well do the ministers and priests handle the effects of the war on the men and women they tend to in the story?

5. What does Cass try to teach Lucian as a young man? Do you think Cass is a good influence on the boy?

6. How do the battle scenes in this novel compare to those you've read in other novels or non- fiction accounts? How do these scenes affect the way you think about war?

7. Are the men better of for having returned to Franl@