My second book for Maggie’s Southern Reading Challenge is the epic Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier. (Frazier is also the author of Cold Mountain. )

"Will Cooper is not William Holland Thomas," Frazier says in an author's note, and then adds, "though they do share some DNA." Like the real life William Holland Thomas, the fictional Will Cooper was born in North Carolina in 1805, was almost immediately orphaned, worked as a boy in a general store in the mountains, taught himself the law, worked to secure the right of the Cherokees to remain in their territory as Andrew Jackson sought to drive all Indians westward along the Trail of Tears, served in the state senate and organized a company of Cherokee soldiers on behalf of the Confederacy.

But while the book tells a tale that includes much fictionalized history spanning decades, at its heart, it is a love story between Will and the lovely Cherokee young woman, Claire. Will and Claire spend two blissful summers together in their teens, and although they are later separated, Will spends the next decades pining over what he has lost, and never marries.

I listened to this book, and the narration is nicely done. An added bonus was the lovely guitar and fiddle musical interludes between sections of the book.

If you liked Cold Mountain (which I also listened to as an audible book), you’ll also enjoy Thirteen Moons.