cover image Margaret Junkin Preston: A Biography

Margaret Junkin Preston: A Biography

Mary P. Coulling. John F. Blair Publisher, $21.95 (274pp) ISBN 978-0-89587-102-2

Born and raised in Pennsylvania, poet Preston (1820-1897) moved with her family to Lexington, Va., when she was 28, and became well-known for verse reflecting a Southern sensibility. In this study drawing heavily on family letters, Coulling ( The Lee Girls ) attributes Preston's commitment to the Confederate cause during the Civil War to her love for her husband, Major John Preston, and to her warm regard for ``Stonewall'' Jackson, the famed Civil War general who had married her sister. Although her poetry was published widely in her lifetime, Preston's sentimental and frequently unpolished lyrics have mostly been forgotten. Coulling's attempt to rescue Preston from obscurity is marred by an overly sympathetic attitude toward her subject and an undue understanding for slave holders. Illustrations not seen by PW. (May)