Review: News of the World

News of the World by Paulette Jiles
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a delightful book that I knew nothing about when I picked it up. It is a historical novel set in Texas following the Civil War. The land is lawless in most places and plagued with corruption or no government. In some parts, the Civil War still burns.

The real story is of Captain Jefferson Kidd, a 71 year kid veteran of 3 wars, and a favor he agrees to do for a free black man (not fictional). A 10 year old child has been turned over by the Kiowa Indians and needs to be returned to her kin, deep in Texas. It's a very long trip and Johanna is Kiowa in all was but by birth. A sweet friendship develops between the cranky old man and wild child. Told with humor and heartbreaking honesty, I only put the book down to sleep and to go to work.

Highly recommend. I can also see it made into a movie. Perhaps on the Hallmark channel. The book is written in a way that it played across my mind in movie format.

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