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Vt. Author Tackles Civil War PTSD in "Nostalgia"

Thursday, November 7, 2013 at 7:49 a.m. In the midst of the Civil War, a young man named Summerfield Hayes leaves his dear sister Sarah in Brooklyn to join the Union effort. He does so not because of patriotism, but to cure himself of the sexual feelings he has for his sister.

It’s not long before he finds himself injured and abandoned by his brigade, stuck in a hospital, suspected of desertion, for which the punishment is death. That’s the premise of Nostalgia, the new novel by Vermont author Dennis McFarland.

McFarland will be reading with Michelle Blake at the Putney Public Library at 7 p.m. on Thursday, November 7. Learn more about Dennis McFarland.

Peter was a Producer/Announcer at VPR until 2015. He began his public radio career in 2007 at WHQR-FM in Wilmington, North Carolina where he served as Morning Edition host and reporter, covering county government and Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base. His work has won several Associated Press awards and has appeared on NPR's All Things Considered, Weekend Edition, and PRI's This American Life. A graduate of the creative writing program at the University of Maine at Farmington, Peter enjoys writing, cooking and traveling.
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