News of the World by Paulette Jiles + a Giveaway

Hi, everyone! I'm off at the Women Writing the West conference right now, which makes today's post pretty appropriate :)

Today I'm a stop on the TLC blog tour for Paulette Jiles's National Book Award nominated News of the World.

Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd spends his post war days traveling Texas's northern regions and sharing the news. It's a job he enjoys and takes pride in. One that is important to him. But his knowledge of the state, and his experience as a soldier, are exactly what's in need when Johanna Leonberger is rescued from Kiowa captives. The girl, orphaned and being transported to her only living relatives, doesn't remember her life before the Kiowa. Given the choice, she'd return to her adoptive family. But they no longer want her either. 

And so it's up to Captain Kidd to bring the girl from Wichita City all the way south to San Antonio. Their journey won't be an easy one, but hopefully, Kidd can protect the girl and succeed in his mission. 

News of the World is, if you're a fan of them, a western. If you're not a fan, though, trust me when I say that won't matter one bit! It's a story of survival and a story of friendship. The kind of story that, paired with Jiles's writing, defies genre and will appeal to a wide range of readers.

Set in post Civil War Texas, Kidd and Johanna travel the lands I've heard Paulette Jiles herself calls home and often travels by horseback. It's clear she shares a passion for the Lone Star State's history that Kidd himself would admire. In telling his tale, she has carefully researched the era and setting, drawing on real historical figures in her creation of Kidd and the tale. (Britt is real, for example, and, though fictionalized here, Kidd himself is real as well.)

I've not read all of Jiles's work. My own first time reading her was the quite different post apocalyptic Lighthouse Island. So I didn't know that Britt is a returning character. Fans of The Color of Lightning will no doubt be pleased to see him again, brief though it may be.

I loved the scenery painted by Jiles's prose. I am, somewhat, familiar with modern day Texas but admittedly haven't roamed the countryside that much. The land described here is the land my own great grandparents settled once upon a time. While I doubt they shared any adventures akin to that of Captain Kidd, I can imagine them there on their farm just outside of San Antonio, perhaps waving as Kidd and Johanna pass them on their journey.

And now for the giveaway: I have one hardcover copy to give away to one of you lucky readers today. To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter below before Monday, October 24. Open US only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here. And for more on Paulette Jiles and her work you can visit her website here.

Purchase Links: HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble