The mere absence of war is not peace (John F. Kennedy). That is the premise of "The Late Unpleasantness", a post-Civil War novel whose title derives from a common reference by genteel folk of the time to the war that left over 600,000 dead. Through the experiences of survivors, the story evolves within Camp Douglas, a Confederate prisoner of war camp located in Chicago, the Andersonville prisoner of war camp in Georgia, and the fictitious town of Mission, Wyoming. Dubbed the "Andersonville of the North", Camp Douglas easily matched the brutality of its Southern counterpart and nearly six thousand soldiers of the Confederacy died there. Maura Spencer, a nurse from Chicago, cannot favor a side in a conflict between her countrymen and so tends to the inmates of Camp Douglas. Peace, when it finally arrives, holds little interest for her and she is unable to see to a season beyond the war. Aubrey Cameron, a captured Confederate soldier from North Carolina, is singled out for especially cruel treatment by his Camp Douglas captors and left to survive the peace bearing the scars of his internment. Like others of the era, Aubrey and Maura become part of the westward migration. In the fledgling town of Mission they join a fragile nucleus of veterans. Although this novel is focused on the Civil War period its messages are germane to the war experience in general and to the understanding that coming home from battle is a journey best taken in the company of others and not achieved merely by boarding a train.
Although they have no characters in common, The Zoo and Duet are two screenplays deeply connected thematically. These compelling narratives, set in the Auschwitz concentration camp (The Zoo) and in East Berlin behind the Berlin Wall (Duet), bring the best and the worst of humanity into sharp focus as the characters struggle with captivity, pervasive cruelty, and their own helplessness and insignificance in the face of larger socio-political realities. While World War II and its lingering shadow are certainly the driving forces behind the action, these stories are about people: In The Zoo, a group of twin children struggle to survive the experiments of Dr. Josef Mengele; in Duet, next generation Germans, living behind a wall of shame and concrete, compose music for orchestras too repressed to play. These are human stories suffused with the music of the heart, and the silence of the grave.
This will help us customize your experience to showcase the most relevant content to your age group
Please select from below
Login
Not registered?
Sign up
Already registered?
Success – Your message will goes here
We'd love to hear from you!
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.