Simon the Fiddler * Paulette Jiles

Conscripted into a Confederate regimental band in the final days of the Civil War, a talented young fiddler travels across Reconstruction-era Texas with a ragtag band of fellow musicians in hopes of earning enough money to buy land and reunite with the indentured Irish governess who stole his heart.

The Story. Written by acclaimed poet and National Book Award finalist Paulette Jiles, this  serves as a warm, atmospheric companion novel to her bestseller News of the World. Set in Texas beginning in March 1865, the story follows twenty-three-year-old Simon Boudlin, a slight, red-haired orphan from Kentucky who has dodged military service until a barroom brawl lands him in a Confederate band. Just before the surrender, Simon is called to play at a gathering of Union and Confederate officers, where he becomes smitten with Doris Mary Dillon, a quiet Irish woman working as an indentured governess. When the war ends and Doris leaves with the colonel's family for San Antonio, Simon teams up with three fellow musicians - Doroteo, Damon, and Patrick - to play saloons, dance halls, and riverboats across a rough, changing frontier while writing letters and saving every coin to build a life together.

Perfect For. Historical fiction fans, book clubs, and readers drawn to lyrical, character-rich Westerns and music-infused stories alongside Paulette Jiles's News of the World, Enemy Women, and Chenneville, Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain, Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses, or Leif Enger's Peace Like a River.

Published 2020 by William Morrow.

Historical & Literary Fiction / 19th-Century American Historical Fiction / Post-Civil War & Reconstruction Texas / Western & Frontier Fiction / Music & Romance Narratives / Book Club Favorites