Book I, pgs. 1-22 Summary

Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All, by Allen Gurganus, is the story of Lucy Marsden. She is the widow of the last surviving soldier of the Civil War. This is her story of slavery, the Civil War, family, sharecropping and the South. The book opens with the death of her husband, Captain Marsden. He had been famous in the area with people coming to interview him and to take pictures. Lucy would prompt him to tell his battle stories for them. Lucy did this for the last thirty years of his life.

The book opens with Lucy thinking of his death. The house is now quiet, with no more visitors. Lucy comes to like the quiet. She is now in a home and people come to see her to hear her stories. She is ninety nine years...