New items are available at the Hancock County Public Library.
The following items are available at the Hancock County Public Library, 900 W. McKenzie Road. For more information on the library’s collection or to reserve a title, visit hcplibrary.org.
Adult Fiction
“Varina” by Charles Frazier
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Her marriage prospects limited, teenager Varina Howell agrees to wed the much-older widower Jefferson Davis, with whom she expects to live the secure life of a Mississippi landowner. Davis instead pursues a career in politics and is eventually appointed president of the Confederacy, placing Varina at the white-hot center of one of the darkest moments in American history — and culpable regardless of her opinions or intentions. As the Confederacy fails, so does her marriage. The country divided, Varina and her children escape Richmond and travel south on their own, now fugitives with “bounties on their heads, an entire nation in pursuit.” “Varina” is a novel of an American war and its aftermath. Ultimately, the book is a portrait of a woman who comes to realize that complicity carries consequences.
Adult Nonfiction
“A Spy in Canaan: How the FBI Used a Famous Photographer to Infiltrate the Civil Rights Movement,” by Marc Perrusquia
Photographer Ernest Withers captured some of the most iconic moments of the civil rights era — from the snapshot of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. riding one of the first integrated buses in Montgomery, to the haunting photo of Emmett Till’s uncle pointing an accusing finger at his nephew’s killers. He was trusted by King’s inner circle and had a front row seat to history. Few people know that Withers was also an informant for the FBI. Journalist Marc Perrusquia broke the story of Withers’ secret life after an investigation culminated in the release hundreds of once-classified FBI documents. Those files confirmed that from 1958 to 1976 Withers helped the Bureau monitor pillars of the movement including Dr. Martin Luther King and dozens of civil rights foot soldiers. Now, on the 50th anniversary of King’s assassination, “A Spy in Canaan” explores the life, motivations and legacy of Ernest Withers, as well as the shadow that era’s culture of surveillance has cast on our own time.
