Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All
Encyclopedia
Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All is a 1989 first novel by Allan Gurganus
which was on the New York Times Best Seller list
for eight months. It won the Sue Kaufman Prize
from The American Academy of Arts and Letters
, was a main selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club, and sold over four million copies. It was made into a television play on CBS
with Cicely Tyson
winning one of its four Emmy Award
s as best supporting actress.
The book was adapted by Martin Tahse into a one-woman play on Broadway
in 2003, starring Ellen Burstyn
. The play opened at the Longacre Theatre November 17, 2003 and closed after one regular performance on November 18, 2003, earning the notoriety of having closed almost immediately after its opening night. The show held this record until May 6, 2008 when Glory Days
closed immediately after its opening night.
The novel is written as supposedly dictated to a visitor to the nursing home of ninety-nine-year-old Lucy Marsden, who was married around 1900 when she was 15 and her husband, Colonel William Marsden, was 50. Through this motif, the novel explores issues of race and personal relationships in the historical context of the American South
. According to the author's web site http://www.allangurganus.com/book.php?doc=widow&title=Oldest%20Living%20Confederate%20Widow%20Tells%20All, "If Colonel William Marsden was a veteran of the 'War for Southern Independence,' Lucy became a 'veteran of the veteran' with a unique perspective on Southern history and Southern manhood. Her story encompasses everything from the death of a Confederate boy soldier to the feisty narrator's daily battles in the Home — complete with visits from a mohawk-coiffed candy-striper."
Allan Gurganus
Allan Gurganus is an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist whose work is often influenced by and set in his native North Carolina. His writing has been compared to the work of William Faulkner and Eudora Welty, who also were identified with the American South.-Biography: Gurganus was...
which was on the New York Times Best Seller list
New York Times Best Seller list
The New York Times Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. It is published weekly in The New York Times Book Review magazine, which is published in the Sunday edition of The New York Times and as a stand-alone publication...
for eight months. It won the Sue Kaufman Prize
Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction
The Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction is awarded by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The $5,000 prize is given for the best published first novel or collection of short stories in the preceding year...
from The American Academy of Arts and Letters
The American Academy of Arts and Letters
The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 250-member honor society; its goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Located in Washington Heights, a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan in New York, it shares Audubon Terrace, its Beaux Arts campus on...
, was a main selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club, and sold over four million copies. It was made into a television play on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
with Cicely Tyson
Cicely Tyson
Cicely Tyson is an American actress. A successful stage actress, Tyson is also known for her Oscar-nominated role in the film Sounder and the television movies The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and Roots....
winning one of its four Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
s as best supporting actress.
The book was adapted by Martin Tahse into a one-woman play on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
in 2003, starring Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn is a leading American actress of film, stage, and television. Burstyn's career began in theatre during the late 1950s, and over the next ten years she appeared in several films and television series before joining the Actors Studio in 1967...
. The play opened at the Longacre Theatre November 17, 2003 and closed after one regular performance on November 18, 2003, earning the notoriety of having closed almost immediately after its opening night. The show held this record until May 6, 2008 when Glory Days
Glory Days (musical)
Glory Days is a musical with music and lyrics by Nick Blaemire and a book by James Gardiner about four high school friends reuniting a year after graduation....
closed immediately after its opening night.
The novel is written as supposedly dictated to a visitor to the nursing home of ninety-nine-year-old Lucy Marsden, who was married around 1900 when she was 15 and her husband, Colonel William Marsden, was 50. Through this motif, the novel explores issues of race and personal relationships in the historical context of the American South
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
. According to the author's web site http://www.allangurganus.com/book.php?doc=widow&title=Oldest%20Living%20Confederate%20Widow%20Tells%20All, "If Colonel William Marsden was a veteran of the 'War for Southern Independence,' Lucy became a 'veteran of the veteran' with a unique perspective on Southern history and Southern manhood. Her story encompasses everything from the death of a Confederate boy soldier to the feisty narrator's daily battles in the Home — complete with visits from a mohawk-coiffed candy-striper."
See also
- See TV film: Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells AllOldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All (TV film)Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All is a 1994 two part Television film based on the 1989 novel by Allan Gurganus. Starring Diane Lane, Donald Sutherland, Cicely Tyson and Anne Bancroft.-Plot summary:...