Library to host author of Civil War historical novel

The Jackson County Public Library in downtown Sylva will host a book talk with Emily Cooper, author of “Queen of the Lost,” a fictionalized account of former First Lady of South Carolina Lucy Pickens, on Thursday, Oct. 18, at 7 p.m.

Cooper's book focuses on the life of Lucy Holcombe Pickens, the legendary “Queen of the Confederacy” and wife of South Carolina Governor Francis Pickens. A fictionalized historical saga spanning 150 years, “Queen of the Lost” traces Pickens’ life from her origins in Tennessee and Texas to the tsar’s palace in St. Petersburg with her then-ambassador husband, Francis Pickens. Following Pickens' election to the governorship and South Carolina's subsequent secession, Lucy Holcombe Pickens became the first and only woman to be pictured on Confederate currency.

According to acclaimed Civil War historian Orville Vernon Burton, Cooper uses “the power of fiction to captivate, entertain, educate, and delight her audience." He calls the book "comprehensively researched and wonderfully readable."

Cooper is a former journalist and editor in South Carolina who now makes her home in Madison County’s Shelton Laurel community and in Columbia, S.C. During her presentation, she will discuss her book and take questions from the audience. Books will be for sale.

For more information, call the Jackson County Public Library at (828)586-2016. This program is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Jackson County Public Library.

The Jackson County Public Library is a member of Fontana Regional Library (www.fontanalib.org).