News of the World

Summary (from the publisher): In the aftermath of the Civil War, an aging itinerant news reader agrees to transport a young captive of the Kiowa back to her people in this exquisitely rendered, morally complex, multilayered novel of historical fiction from the author of Enemy Women that explores the boundaries of family, responsibility, honor, and trust.

 

In the wake of the Civil War, Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd travels through northern Texas, giving live readings from newspapers to paying audiences hungry for news of the world. An elderly widower who has lived through three wars and fought in two of them, the captain enjoys his rootless, solitary existence.

In Wichita Falls, he is offered a $50 gold piece to deliver a young orphan to her relatives in San Antonio. Four years earlier, a band of Kiowa raiders killed Johanna’s parents and sister; sparing the little girl, they raised her as one of their own. Recently rescued by the U.S. army, the ten-year-old has once again been torn away from the only home she knows.

Their 400-mile journey south through unsettled territory and unforgiving terrain proves difficult and at times dangerous. Johanna has forgotten the English language, tries to escape at every opportunity, throws away her shoes, and refuses to act “civilized.” Yet as the miles pass, the two lonely survivors tentatively begin to trust each other, forming a bond that marks the difference between life and death in this treacherous land.

Arriving in San Antonio, the reunion is neither happy nor welcome. The captain must hand Johanna over to an aunt and uncle she does not remember—strangers who regard her as an unwanted burden. A respectable man, Captain Kidd is faced with a terrible choice: abandon the girl to her fate or become—in the eyes of the law—a kidnapper himself.

Review: This historical fiction novel is told from the perspective of Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, an elderly widower who, in the aftermath of the Civil War, travels through Texas giving readings from newspapers to paying audiences. Captain Kidd enjoys his solitary existence until it is uprooted when he is offered payment in return for delivering a young orphan to relatives in San Antonio. The ten-year-old orphan, named Johanna, was captured by Kiowa four years earlier and been raised as one of their tribe since that time. The unlikely pair face a difficult journey through unsettled territory, made more difficult by Johanna's sadness over the loss of yet another family and her inability to speak English. And when the two finally arrive in San Antonio, the captain finds that Johanna's relatives view the girl more as a free source of labor than a long lost niece and he must make the decision whether to leave the girl or rescue her from her fate.

This was an interesting portrait of life in the wake of war. The lawlessness, sense of uncertainty, and fragility of life is clearly felt. Furthermore, the tone is one of loss and upheaval, both for the captain and his young charge. Even in the face of greed and his own hardships, the captain quietly reveals himself to be a deeply compassionate man: "he was suddenly almost overwhelmed with pity for her. Torn from her parents, adopted by a strange culture, given new parents, then sold for a few blankets and some old silverware, now sent to stranger after stranger, crushed into peculiar clothing, surrounded by people of an unknown language and unknown culture, only ten years old." Despite all of her hardships, Johanna is inordinately lucky to have found Captain Kidd and he in return grows to appreciate the young girl's companionship. Yet beyond this gentle compassion on the part of the captain, the story and characters never felt fully fleshed out. The conclusion rapidly whirls through several decades of the characters' lives. Even in the final pages, the novel lacked full characterization that could have made these individuals feel real and vibrant.

This novel was told in simple and spare language that was at times beautifully evocative; "Here had been people whose dearest memories were the sound of a dipper dropped in the water bucket after taking a drink and the click of it as it hit bottom. The quiet of evening. The shade of the Devil's trumpet vine over a window, scattered shadows gently hypnotic. The small of a new calf, a long bar of sun falling into the back door over worn planks and every knot outlined." Yet beyond its narrative style and the since of time and place, I was disappointed in the lack of fully realized characters and the rushed feel to the ending.

Stars: 3