Paulette Jiles sets News of the World in 1870 Texas when the country was recovering from the Civil War and still rife with Indian raids and unrest. Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd travels throughout Texas, gathering crowds and reading from newspapers while trying to avoid any political news that might provoke arguments. It is during one of his speaking engagements that he is approached by Britt Johnson whose wife and children had been kidnapped by the Comanches (he eventually found them). Britt had heard that Captain Kidd was travelling to San Antonio and he asked if he would take a young blonde, blue eyed 10-year-old with him. She had been kidnapped by the Kiowa several years before and spoke no English.
Kidnappings were common during this time period and here in Fort Worth we have a log cabin village (a living history museum) - one of the cabins belonged to the Parker family. Cynthia Parker (the mother of Comanche chief Quanah Parker) was kidnapped at the age of nine and lived with the Comanches for over twenty years. She was never able to adjust when returned to her family.
My thoughts: I liked the story, but it was difficult to read. There are no quote marks and I found myself reading the same sentences more than once to try and distinguish what was spoken and what was internal dialog. Most sentences were also very short and did not flow well.
