Miss Ravenel's Conversion from Secessions to Loyalty

by John William De Forest

Book Overview

More panoramic in scope and more realistic in its details than Crane's Red Badge of Courage, this is one of the first and best novels ever written about the American Civil War

Drawing on his own combat experience with the Union forces, John W. De Forest crafted a war novel like nothing before it in the annals of American literature. His first-hand knowledge of "the wilderness of death" made its way on to the pages of his riveting...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140437576
• ISBN13: 9780140437577
• Release Date: March 2000
• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Length: 544 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.1" x 7.8"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

redicovered masterpiece

i was somewhat putoff by the title of this book but after adapting to the 19th century prose, i was blown away by discovering a book to put by melville , hawthorne or henry james. Even the language took on a contemporary flavor . DeForests picture of American democracy has an eerie back to the future relevancy. The authors book length meditation on the human condition is sad and lonely in a uniquely American way. I am amazed that a vast academic industry has neglected promoting this masterpiece.

from the editor of the book

I appreciate the favorable comments made by all of the reviewers. For the record, however, in response to Peter George: my note on Stonewall Jackson accurately observes that the Confederate forces under his command repulsed the Union army at the first Bull Run and forced their retreat to Washington. I elsewhere add (chapter V, note 14) that J. E. Johnston commanded all Confederate forces in the battle. Peter Bridges also seems to object that my notes are too detailed, even "demeaning" to "educated Penguin readers," yet that my note re. Bailie Jarvie is not detailed enough. I can only reply that my notes are intended to aid precisely those undergraduates who require them, not the pedants who are perfectly entitled to ignore them.

A minor masterpiece

This is perhaps the best novel with the worst title ever written. Set during the Civil War, the novel depicts the war in all its sordidness: the blunders, the incompetence, the poor leadership. Miss Ravenel is a Southerner who falls in love with a Union captain and gradually sheds her rebel coat for the Northern cause. De Forest's realism is admirable, his writing ability even more so. It's hard to think of a better novel about the Civil War than this one, the first to treat the war realistically. This is truly a minor American masterpiece and should be much better known.

A Union veteran's novel

Miss Ravenel's Conversion from Secession to Loyalty may have a cumbersome title, but it is an enjoyable read. It tells the story of Lillie Ravenel who with her father are exiled from Louisiana at the beginning of the Civil War. Lillie is an ardent Confederate, but her father's loyalist sympathies force them to take refuge in New England. In the fictional city of New Boston, they meet two men who both fall in love with Lillie. These men fight for Lillie at the same time as fighting for the Union. It is through these relationships and through her experiences on returning to occupied Louisiana that Lillie's gradual conversion occurs. John De Forest's novel is part romance and part war story. These strands of the story are interweaved well and are fascinating for the insight they give into life in the 1860s. The romance is at times quite conventional with Lillie constantly blushing and occasionally swooning, but the story also contains unusual elements for a 19th century novel. The story includes a woman seeking an affair with a married man, a man keeping an apartment for his mistress and a Union officer conquering not only a Southern town, but also two of the women in it. The battle scenes are well told and are clearly based on De Forest's experiences during the war. He is not afraid to show the consequences of battle, describing soldiers horribly mutilated with rotting wounds. The actual battle scenes are quite few in number and are mainly skirmishes. The only large-scale engagement in which the characters are involved is Port Hudson. This is a pity for with De Forest's writing skill, it would have been interesting if he had been involved in and given an account of one of the really great battles. Nevertheless he provides a detailed account of army life during the Civil War showing the bureaucracy and boredom, the frustration and pettiness, the bravery and the cowardice. His account is extremely one-sided and he has scarcely a good word to say about the Confederacy, but this adds to the fascination of the novel, for it gives the reader first-hand insight into the attitude of a Union veteran towards his beaten enemy and why it was that he fought against the South. The Penguin edition of the novel has a good introduction with some helpful information about De Forest and the reception of his novel. It also has many useful notes especially those which translate phrases written in French and Latin. However it must be said that a lot of these notes are superfluous for most readers, e.g. explaining what the Mason Dixon Line is, or what the dodo was, and some of the notes are mistaken such as the statement that Stonewall Jackson commanded the Confederate forces at first Manassas.

Underappreciated Classic That's Great Fun

When I read "Miss Ravenel" several years ago, I did not fully appreciate it--now that I'm very much into The War, I have a new outlook. Yes, it's dated, and to modern readers, the dialogue at times is corny and silly (as is DeForest's hesitancy to be more explicit about certain sexual matters). To me,though, that's part of the charm, along with its Victorian sentimentality. It's too bad it was not appreciated when it was published in 1867. Anyone interested in The War needs to read this--and keep in mind the fact that I'm a blue-blooded Southern boy.