Category Archives: western

News of the World by Paulette Jiles

10 Monday Apr 2017

Posted by in Fiction, western

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In News of the World, a National Book Award finalist, elderly, genteel Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, a former soldier and onetime printer, makes his living traveling through post–Civil War Texas with a sheaf of newspapers, reading for dimes to audiences hungry for outside news.  The former Johanna Leonberger, a ten-year-old German girl taken captive by the Kiowa in a brutal raid, is now by all measures Kiowa herself. When an aunt and uncle offer a $50 gold piece for Johanna’s safe return, Captain Kidd reluctantly takes the job.  400 miles in 213 pages – action, memorable characters, and gorgeous prose.

“Lyrical and affecting, the novel succeeds in skirting cliches through its empathy and through the depth of its major characters.” – Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“My respect for Paulette Jiles grows with every novel she writes, the News of the World is her best yet…She writes with great clarity, understanding, and a forgiving heart.” – Nancy Pearl, librarian, bestselling author, and literary critic

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The Homesman by Glendon Swarthout

13 Friday Feb 2015

Posted by in Fiction, Historical Fiction, western

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The Homesman was originally published in 1988 but has recently been released as a paperback in conjunction with a major motion picture starring Tommy Lee Jones and Hilary Swank. It’s always fun to read the book first and then see the movie! The main characters, George Briggs, a low-life claim jumper, and Mary Bee Cuddy, an indomitable and resourceful spinster, are forced into some sort of functioning relationship as they trek back to the East from the Midwest during the 1850’s, battling ice storms, Indian attacks, famine and loneliness.  The book highlights the plight of American frontier women and the hardships that they endured.  After reading this book, the reader will appreciate the comforts of 21st century living.

“I tell friends what The Homesman is about and their eyes open wide and they can’t wait to read it. And that’s just the plot. Swarthout puts you there, in time and place. I love the way he writes.” (Elmore Leonard)
“No reader should even attempt to guess what happens. Surprise piles upon surprise… Glendon Swarthout has honed writing excellence to a nearly unsurpassable level… A powerful novel… A classic of vivid realism and gripping storytelling.” (Associated Press)

“Totally involving from its very first words… a dangerous journey into the soul, an exploration of the relationships of men and women to each other, to their environments and—ultimately most devastatingly—to themselves.” (Los Angeles Times Book Review)

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