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A fictional exploration of the upheaval in lives and society right after the American Civil War in Texas after a disastrous and unnecessary battle in the last days of it, perpetrated on battle-weary soldiers by a glory-seeking officer. Also a love story wherein dispossessed young people triumph over poverty, indentured servitude, an in-house predator, not to mention much time and distance spent apart. Bonus, this is a tribute to musicians and the authenticity of the tunes they played and the instruments they had on hand is a treat to behold. It begs for a soundtrack. An audio recording of this book would be a huge hit!
A “victory” aka end of hostilities banquet is organized after the quick and bloody battle, and former soldiers known or suspected of being musicians are rounded up to form a 'scratch band' from both sides of the conflict. They’ve been wandering around since the battle, trying not to starve or bleed to death or catch yellow fever or be asked for their discharge papers by the Union soldiers. One such soldier is a slight youth known as Simon the Fiddler, already an accomplished musician whose biggest concern is the safety of his violin in its case. Simon has a temper and a chip on his shoulder because his father’s whereabouts are unknown and parentage in that society is a major concern. “Who are your people?” meaning what sort of upstanding citizens or worthless batch of landless ne’er-do-wells do you hail from? Simon wants land and to this end he plans to save the money he can make playing music. To this he has added winning the hand of Doris Aherne, the Irish indentured servant of the vainglorious and predatory officer who caused this last unnecessary battle. Simon is a goal-oriented fellow, you might say, an officially fatherless and desperate young man with a mighty will to succeed.
Here, as always within the novels written by award-winning writer Paulette Jiles, are truly marvelous characters, depicted in writing so engaging, so embedded in that particular time and place, another masterful combination of eye and ear and language. The descriptions of the odours alone are so apt you will walk the resinous rough-lumbered docks of Galveston and avoid the pungent fellows being tossed out of the bars in Houston. Spanish music and food and language mix with new world English alike. We can feel the desperation as these starving musicians scrabble to find more work and to find the doctor “on his exhausted horse” with pain-killers to ease their afflicted friend’s painful departure. The dialogue and the action are laced with deadpan humour as in the early example where Simon is hidden from army conscripts in an ice-house, covered with sawdust and left to ‘chill’ for hours.
The plot roars and simmers with yearning and menace. The chapter with the musicians journeying out to a notorious bandit’s family wedding is a nail-biter because the musicians know they could end up being what we’d call collateral damage should hostilities break out but Simon wants the lucrative pay promised to them. Meanwhile Doris, his beloved, on whom he has fixed his hopes for matrimony, is cleverly using the small arsenal of weapons available to her to fend off the predatory officer. The lot of indentured servants is only one step away from actual slavery and not nearly as much is written about it. They are at the mercy of a family and Doris is not placed with a happy family. The modern-day parallel would be nannies, hoping for permanent citizenship. The only time Doris can leave this bleak house is to accompany her only friend to the market to shop for food and to go to houses to teach piano lessons or accompany travelling musicians for a concert. I think you can see where this might lead…
A rip-roaring historical romance written by a brilliant storyteller and apparently a veteran penny whistle player in a ‘browngrass band’ in Texas!
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