News of the World

ZOOM

The story of a 72-year-old Civil War veteran and his 10-year-old ward traveling from north to south in 1870s Texas is absolutely perfect on every level. Giles's character development and scene setting as well as the way in which she weaves in lots of history from that time is pitch perfect and she accomplishes it in a very compact book.

I chose this book because I heard about the story line on a podcast and for the following reasons: 1) It take place in Texas, post-Civil War Texas … yeah, I am a snob about that. 2) Its historical fiction with a protagonist loosely based on a real guy with character and substance. 3) The other main character is a little girl who had been captured by a Kiowa raiding party. Full disclosure, my 2x great grandmother Anna Metzge was captured by Comanche in 1865(though some sources say Kiowa… I’m not sure and she might not have been sure either). Both lived to tell about it. 4) Oh and I liked the cover. The author has this way of perfectly describing scenes using the fewest number of works. I wish I could do that. I just love, love, love this book. And guess what? Tom Hanks is doing the movie version. Score! It’s not on Audible so you will actually have to read it. But I love it so much, call me and I will read it to you!

Also finished News of the World. Much better book than the movie. Interesting story set just after the Civil War. About a traveling news reader who takes on the task of transporting a white girl who was rescued from native Americans back to her family. Very good story. Check out this book on Goodreads: News of the World https://goodreads.com/book/show/25817493-news-of-the-world

An absorbing, touching read that transported me back in time and left me emotionally invested, happily satisfied, and with so many compelling topics to further explore. The author suggests one topic in particular - "the psychology of children captured and adopted by Native American tribes on the frontier...should read Scott Zesch's book The Captured. It is excellent." What happened to these children that even when captured and held for a less than year, converted them entirely into Indians - their hearts and ways never to fully re-adjust when returned to their non-native families?

Inspired by true-life stories of Caesar Adolphus Kydd, our fictional protagonist Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd experienced the war of 1812 as a young man, the Mexican war as a man in his 50's, became a widow with two grown daughters, held a lifelong calling to dispatch messages, and in his 70's took on a 400 mile quest to deliver a 10-yr old half-wild orphan girl to her only living family. He was a man of his word yet at the end of this journey, is faced with a difficult moral decision for both him and the girl. What will he do? What will she do?

Captain Kidd and the girl, Johanna, are characters with depth that will long be with me.