''A Dream of Kings'' is a novel written by American author
Davis Grubb
Davis Alexander Grubb (July 23, 1919 – July 24, 1980) was an American novelist and short story writer, best known for his 1953 novel '' The Night of the Hunter'', which was
adapted as a film in 1955 by Charles Laughton.
Biography
Born in M ...
, published in 1955. The novel describes the life of Tom Christopher during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
in Virginia.
Story line and development
The novel is set in
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, which then becomes
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...
, and on
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
battlefields between 1855 and 1864. Tom Christopher lives with his Aunt Sarah, and another girl his aunt has taken in, Catherine Ellen Hornbrook, or just Cathi as she is called. Her father Abijah Hornbrook, never appears in the novel, but his presence is felt. The "dream of kings" is the
Confederacy. "A storm is gathering upon our land and when it has passed
bija Hornbrook writes to his daughteryou may see a new nation upon this continent and you will know that I have helped to form it....a time of kings....Yes, this nation shall belong to the gentlemen who founded it. When the war comes Tom fights under the command of
Stonewall Jackson
Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, considered one of the best-known Confederate commanders, after Robert E. Lee. He played a prominent role in nearl ...
. When Jackson dies, Tom deserts, and goes back to West Virginia. Once there he falls in love with Cathi.
Editions
* Charles Scribner's Sons, 1955. This was Grubb's first novel for Scribner's.
Reviews
''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' had a favorable opinion upon the novel: "Novelist Grubb...has now attempted what might have been a commonplace story...but...he writes with such emotional conviction and lyric intensity that the book emerges as an authentic and haunting experience."
Books: Mixed Fiction
October 3, 1955, ''Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
References
1955 American novels
Novels by Davis Grubb
Novels set during the American Civil War
Novels set in Virginia
Charles Scribner's Sons books
Stonewall Jackson
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