Simon the Fiddler audiobook

News of the World is one of my favorite books . I’ve been remiss since I read it by not reading more by Paulette Jiles. With this novel, I am once again inspired to get to the others that I haven’t yet read because I found the writing here to be lovely and the characters wonderful, even though it took a while for me to connect with them.Simon is a young man from Kentucky who travels around playing his music, trying to avoid conscription into the Confederate Army, until he finally is caught in Texas near the very end of the war. It is here that he meets up with a “rag tag” group of other musicians and they take to the road, playing their music along the way. Before they begin traveling, Simon meets Doris, a young Irish girl, indentured to a cruel Yankee officer and his family. He becomes even more determined to fulfill his dreams and Doris becomes a part of those dreams. I couldn’t help but me moved by his passion for music, his hopes and dreams for the future and his optimism that he would realize those dreams. The descriptions of how Simon feels about his music are beautiful . “He knew that he did not play music so much as walk into it, as if into a palace of great riches, with rooms opening into other rooms, which opened into still other rooms, and in these rooms were courtyards and fountains with passageways to yet more, mysterious spaces of melody, peculiar intervals, unheard notes.” (This is from an advanced copy.) I loved the camaraderie but felt their journey through Texas to be a little slow moving at times. It was, though, a harrowing journey through dangerous places with dangerous people, but with beautiful descriptions of the landscape, wild horses and wild cattle. It was a journey of three men and a boy playing music with each one meeting their fates. It wasn’t until later in the story that we learn more about Simon’s past and how his mother’s story shapes his dreams of a different life and I found it moving. We don’t learn much about the other musicians until close to the end. I wish I had known more about them earlier. In spite of the slow moving middle, I was taken with the story. I’m not so much of a romantic that I believe in love at first sight, but I thought this turned out to be a beautiful love story, a story of determination and hope. The writing is fabulous and the depiction of the post civil war in Texas was well done . (There’s a little surprise for fans of News of the World but I won’t spoil it. You’ll have to find it out for yourself.) As always, it’s wonderful to read together with my two book buddies Diane and Esil. I received an advanced copy of this book from William Morrow/HarperCollins through Edelweiss.

It was different then. The air was different and the long remote crying of the steamboat whistles as they came down from the Monongahela and Pittsburgh seemed to tell the story of a great nation and a great people with adventure and the look of distance in their eyes, and now it was somehow soiled with the stench of the dead. MacFarland was dead. Lincoln was dead. Neighbors had shot one another dead. It occurred to him that he rarely laughed anymore. Maybe laughter would come back, but it was a dark sun that had come over the country and a plague of crows. Simon Boudlin had always had music in his blood, his father having been a travelling fiddler himself, but the property his family had in Kentucky was laid waste by the war, sending Simon out into the wider world to make his place. He honed his skills in Ohio, made a living with his instrument whenever possible, and did his best to keep away from conscriptionists, both gray and blue. We meet him in East Texas, where he is valued for the breadth of his song-list, not necessarily his fine playing, as his audiences would have no idea what a great master sounded like. It was a time when there was some money about from smuggling, so he was able to command a good price for his work. Atlanta is in flames, the war is over, but the internet was down, so it took a while for news to spread. Simon is finally dragooned by Confederate minions into an army band, just in time for an addled Union colonel, looking to make a name for himself, to launch a pointless attack. Attacks breed counterattacks, but the pointlessness, well, that particular version of it, soon vanishes, as word of war’s official end finally gets through. Paulette Giles - image from Texas Monthly When the Colonel holds a victory celebration, (Not so much for the battle, but the war. The Confederate forces had actually stormed back and retaken their lost turf from him.) Simon is in the band, and sees a sight that will change his life. Doris Aherne, a nanny for the Colonel’s daughter, catches his eye, both eyes actually, and all other available parts, physical, and spiritual. And the game is afoot. Doris is indentured to Colonel Webb for some defined (but not immediately known to Simon) period of time. Nor does he know when that period is due to end. The conditions of her situation are stark, as she is not allowed a social life, and must contend with the wastrel Colonel’s unwanted advances. He who hears music, feels his solitude peopled at once. ~ Robert BrowningCharacters are the lenses through which we get to see the state of the world in the time and place in which historical novels are set, in this case the Reconstruction era of post-Civil-War Texas. As noted in the opening quote, it was a dark sun that had come over the country, so we are not expecting a joyful rom-com here. But Giles wants us to care about her characters. It is so prevalent, the unlikable character, the cynical character, which keeps intelligence, I feel, at a very low level. It’s easy being cynical, constantly cynical. It’s sort of a fast and dirty way to appear intelligent without really being intelligent. It seems to be very prevalent to the point where any new, young writer starting out almost assumes that they have to take on that attitude. - from the Texas Monthly interviewWe follow Simon as he travels through various parts of Texas, Giles showing us what they were like in the late 1860s. Simon picks up a small group of companions, fellow musicians, a veritable UN of internationality. They get along pretty well, for the most part, enduring the travails of that age. We get another perspective, through Doris, on the situation of women in this world, one that will feel far too familiar. I have my own particular sorrows, loves, delights; and you have yours. But sorrow, gladness, yearning, hope, love, belong to all of us, in all times and in all places. Music is the only means whereby we feel these emotions in their universality. ~H.A. Overstreet Simon embodies the American dream. He is a hard worker, is willing to do whatever he needs to do to amass enough money to buy some land. That he expects this will enhance his chances of winning the lady’s hand adds considerably to his determination. Our Lone Star tour takes us to Galveston, where the guys squat in an abandoned shanty-town, contend with audience members of the violently drunk sort, cope with a misguided groupie, and are faced with a rampant local outbreak of yellow fever. Next stop Houston, the old-fashioned way, by hopping a freight train. They contend with the poverty of musicians, or artists of all ages, and take whatever work they can get to keep a roof over their heads, put some food on the table, if they even had a table, and get some clothes presentable enough to give them a chance at getting more of their true work. They endure the sort of misery the poor have always had to endure from people in uniforms. And confront the sort of official corruption that seems baked into the American character. So it has been in human memory, wild places where the only law is the strength of your good right arm…that’s how it is in all of human memory, Vastness! And Age! And Memories of Eld! It was a time when things were not just challenging per se, but in which the world was unsettled. For example, there is a swath of land between the Rio Grande and the Nueces River which might be part of the USA, or part of Mexico. There are legal challenges aplenty, as one must do serious lawyerly gymnastics to figure out whether a contract made under Mexican law, or Confederate law, or Texan law still binds. On to San Antonio, a city where Giles lived for a time. She is fond of the place, but prefers a more rural existence. Here we get to see it in its infancy. Music's the medicine of the mind. ~ John A. LoganSimon’s affection for Doris grows as they maintain a correspondence, despite her mail being intercepted by her boss. Doris’s perspective is no simple plot device. She is no blushing flower, but a strong young woman, smart, with plans for her future, independent of her employer or a beau. Yet, she remains an indentured servant, subject to the strictures enforced by society and her employer. We are also treated to her wonder as she sees the grandeur of a wide open land. Trees become fewer and fewer and far ahead Doris can see black shapes. Large animals, alert, moving away. She thinks this must be what enchantment is like, when a person is taken into the other world. Her spirits are effervescent now they are away from the Colonel, joy comes back to her and unwraps itself gift by gift. Through it all there is music. I read this as an ink-on-dead-tree ARE, but I imagine an audio version would incorporate much of the music that is noted in the story. We are offered a considerable song list, and listen in as the players discuss what songs to play for what audiences, and in which order. There is a plan to crafting a performance that will be news to most of us. Why this song first, why that song last? What is the likely impact of a quick piece, or a slow one? How are song sequences constructed? There is an education to be had just in reading those passages alone. One element of the central narrative is how Simon can continue to make music in this chaotic world. It is a paean to the human need for music. And the power of the drive of those gifted with musical talent to bring their gifts to the world. Giles says in her site, It is a story of music and what those who create music must endure in a rough-and-tumble world. It is no accident that Doris also possesses a musical gift. The musicians name many of the tunes they play, a list too long to include here. I have, however, linked a few in EXTRA STUFF, for your listening pleasure. I hope that as publication nears, a more complete list will turn up on the author’s site. Without music, life is a journey through a desert. ~ Pat ConroyReaders of News of the World (a totally amazing book, must read-stuff) will enjoy occasional appearances by one Jefferson Kyle Kidd, before he had set about traveling the Southwest delivering news from across the world to news-starved towns. If there are other characters from Giles’ other books that turn up I am not well-enough versed in her oeuvre to have detected them. Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. ~Berthold Auerbach Paulette Giles is simply a beautiful writer. She writes engaging characters, puts them in interesting situations, and teaches us something of the place and time while doing so. She is deft in incorporating into her tales detailed specifics that give her stories the air of authenticity. And has a gift for beautiful narrative, capturing some of the rapture of the natural world in addition to portraying the roughness of new, rough civilization. While Simon the Fiddler may not be the huge triumph that News of the World was, it is still a wonderful read, top notch historical literature by one of our best writers, working at the peak of her skills, second fiddle to no one. If music be the food of love, play on. ~ William ShakespeareReview posted – October 25, 2019Publication date – April 14, 2020=============================EXTRA STUFFThe author’s personal websiteThis interview in Texas Monthly is not specific to this book, but offers a lot of insight into Giles’ writing – definitely worth your time - True Western - by Jeff SalamonMy review of Giles’ incredible News of the WorldPartial Songlist-----The Minstrel Boy - by Derek Warfield and the Young Wolfe Tones-----Wayfaring Stranger - by Charlie Haden – Seriously doubt any 1860s band would have produced a version sounding like this, but I soooooo love this one-----Blarney Pilgrim - from Irish Songs, The Irish Folk & Celtic Spirit-----The Braes of Killiecrankie - The Corries-----Cotton-Eyed Joe - by Benny Martin----- Cumberland Gap - by 2nd South Carolina String Band-----Death and the Sinner - by The Home Billies----- Eighth of January - by Blaine Sprouse----- The Fiddler’s Dream - by Molsky’s Mountain Drifters-----Glendy Burke - by Tom Roush-----Hard Times - by Sarah Merritt-----The Hog-Eye Man - by Jim Taylor and his friends-----Home Sweet Home - by Mitch Meadows, Ron Bonkowski, Pat Matheson and Buddy Griffin-----Leather Britches - by Bobby Hicks and JD Crowe-----Little Liza Jane - by the Black and Tan String Band----- Lorena - by Mark Dill-----The Lost Child - by The Stripling Brothers-----Mississippi Sawyer - by Tommy Jackson----- Neil Gow’s Lament - by Alaasdair Fraser and Paul Machlis----- Nightingale Waltz - The American Civil War Band and Field Music-----Red River Valley - by Paul Frauenfelder and Dave Muhlethaler-----Robin Adair - by William Coulter, Deby Benton Grosjean & Friends----- When Johnny Comes Marching Home - by Charles Ingalls

Music is a magical tonic that opens doors in minds and hearts. I was late to the party in reading "News of the World," so when I saw this new book from Paulette Jiles pop up on NetGalley I jumped at the chance to read it before publication. With Simon, the fiddler, we once again are transported to Texas in the aftermath of the Civil War. What I really liked about this book was the tremendous sense of place and time that you get from Jiles in her evocative prose. You can see what Simon sees with clarity and experience the life of a wandering minstrel. His quest to save Doris is ambitious and he does not lose sight of his vision to settle down with her on their own piece of land. We also see bits of what Doris experiences in Captain Webb's household and Captain Kidd makes a cameo appearance. Hurray! As with "News" there are some moments of extreme peril in Simon's journey, and a satisfying ending that goes against prevailing odds. I do think my favorite part was the way Simon describes his escapes into the world of music and the bonds he forms with other musicians along the way. Delightful!Thank you to Harper Collins and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

Paulette Jiles has quickly become my favorite American historical fiction author despite the fact she writes about time periods and places I would not normally read about— except her prose draws me in and I quickly forget anything but her time, her place and her characters. If you read and enjoyed News of the World, I promise you will enjoy this book just as much. And as a nod to Jiles’ earlier book, Captain Kidd makes a short appearance here. I believe it will be a real challenge to meet a more decent man than Simon the fiddler. He and Kidd are clearly cut from the same cloth! Starting the new year with a five-star book is the perfect way to begin a new literary year. Certainly after 2020, it’s even more of a good sign.

Music is key in this story, and that was where I was most engaged. Simon just wanted to be in a band! That makes him relevant to every person who ever just wanted to be in a band! I remember those days. . . Added to that overriding desire, Simon's life is complicated by the Civil War that is moments away from officially ending, and then taking years to actually end. So many people on both sides didn't get the word that fighting was done, or didn't want to get the work that fighting should be done. . .and meanwhile both sides of the war was populated with people who like to dance, sing and have a band in the house! That puts Simon in some interesting positions. . .he's not just Union or Confederate. In fact he's neither - he's a fiddler. In a band. That wants to play for you. And one more complication: Doris, the beauty from Ireland for who he has decided is worthy of pursuit. However, she is indentured and has lots of time to serve.The setting is the south, particularly Texas. I had ancestors playing in these areas during those years, so my interest was boosted even more.4 stars, Texas Fiddlin' Stars, of course.

I love the way the author describes the time and place of this book. It was the same feeling as in "News of the World". We see how the time, place, and circumstances shape the individuals, or more properly, how the individuals adapt to the situations. Simon was almost too darn adaptable. Yet one never stops rooting for him to attain what he wants.

Digital audiobook performed by Grover GardnerSimon Boudlin made a brief first appearance in Jiles’ The News Of the World . In this work, he is the focus of the story. Set in Texas at the end of the Civil War and the beginning of the reconstruction period, Jiles follows Simon and his band of iterant musicians as they try to stay alive and out of trouble, and as Simon tries to win the heart of Doris, an indentured immigrant Irish lass, who works as governess for the family of a Union officer. I love the way Jiles crafts these stories. While the plot focuses on the characters and their reactions to events happening around them, the atmosphere is enhanced by her descriptions of the landscape, the food, and culture of the times.Simon is a marvelous character. Intelligent, quick witted, resourceful, determined and head-over-heels in love with the charming Doris. Their path is not an easy one and there were times when I feared for their safety and, even, their lives. Still, I was cheering him on in his quest to win her heart and establish their future success. The supporting cast is equally memorable. Damon Lessing, whom Simon meets when they are conscripted into the Army and assigned to the “band,” is a piper. Patrick O’Hehir is the drummer boy who is the youngest among them. And Doroteo Navarro, a Tejano guitar player, who has some experience as a fisherman and is therefore invaluable to at least one leg of their journey. Together they form a good team, supporting one another and surviving a number of altercations and dangers. Jiles manages to put me right into the heart of this landscape and time in history. Of course, I’m sure it helps that this is the territory in which I grew up, and I’m very familiar with many of the locations she uses, but I think her writing makes the images equally vivid for those who have never experienced this landscape.Grover Gardner does a fantastic job of voicing the audio book. I felt as if I were listening to an old-timer recall adventures of his youth. His somewhat gravelly voice is that of an older character, but he was still believable, even when interpreting the female characters.

4.5 starsYou can read all of my reviews at https://nerdgirllovesbooks.com/.Another gorgeous book from Paulette Jiles set in Texas in the aftermath of the Civil War. The book is so beautifully written I was transported back in time and felt like I was in the room with the characters and experiencing the story with them. Fiddler Simon Boudlin evaded serving in the military during most of the Civil War. Slight in statue and baby faced, he looked too young to serve. If anyone doubted that, Simon had no problem lying about his age. After a bar room brawl in Southern Texas, fate caught up to Simon and he was conscripted into the Confederate Army. Luckily he was placed in the regimental band and avoided action until the very end. After the Confederate surrender, Simon and his bandmates are told to play at a gathering for officers and their families from both sides of the conflict. There, he sees Doris Dillon, a young Irish woman who is indentured for three years to a Union officer's family. Sparks fly between the two and after they part, Simon vows to find Doris one day and marry her. After being released from the army Simon and 3 of his bandmates drift around Texas scraping by playing in bars and hotels. Simon saves his money and dreams of buying a piece of land, building a house, and moving there with Doris. Simon has a plan, and despite the perils of a new nation and the hard scrabble life he is living, nothing will deter him.I loved the characters in the book. Simon is hard-working, dedicated to his craft, and once he decides on a plan, will let nothing deter him - even himself and his hot-headed nature. More than once Simon is able to talk himself down and resist getting into a fight, or escalating a situation, for fear that it will derail his plans to find Doris and get married. Doris is hard-working, determined and clever, which makes her a great partner for Simon. She does not let adversity get her down, and even when things look bleakest, is able to keep her humor and good-natured spirit. There are plenty of heroes and villains, and even a surprise cameo appearance by a beloved character. The author doesn't delve too far into his bandmates background, other than how they respond to the predicaments they get themselves into and Simon's actions. Each are given a satisfying, if not sad, ending to their storylines, which I appreciated. Often supporting characters are just kind of left hanging or disappear in a story, so it was nice to see them get their own ending. Reading this book is effortless. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend you read it.I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

This stylish Western is a delightful read. It's set in post-Civil War Texas, primarily around San Antonio. The fiddler protagonist and his love interest, an Irish girl, only add to the fun. The vivid landscape is admirable. Recommended.

These days Paulette Jiles is one of my favorite writers of historical fiction. I loved News of the World, and Simon the Fiddler is a wonderful next work. In a time of global darkness and a lingering pandemic, I say read them both.Simon the Fiddler tells the story of itinerant musicians, and the pluck it takes for them to survive immediately following the end of the Civil War -- indeed after its very last minute. As a plantation owner sagely remarks in the opening pages: "We've got many a soldier but we are short on fiddlers." It's true today too.Simon is young, short tempered, and a survivor by his wits and his fingers on the strings. He plays himself into and out of trouble like a musical Huck Finn. Behind it all is his fervent desire to find and marry a sweet young lady he met at one of his performances. The characters are indelible, the prose is exacting and vivid, and this book is best enjoyed with your phone handy -- so you can immediately listen to the jigs and reels and waltzes Simon performs from first page to last. Even without the soundtrack, the names of the songs will give you a fair idea of what the music is like. (Worth adding: Even musical idea, down to the way strangers agree on what tune to play next, is impeccably accurate.)This is not a novel that will necessarily change your view of the world. But it will definitely improve your mood.

He knew that he did not play music so much as walk into it, as if into a palace of great riches, with rooms opening into other rooms, which still opened to other rooms, and in these rooms were courtyards and fountains with passageways to yet more mysterious spaces of melody, peculiar intervals, unheard notes.”“Then San Antonio was ahead of them, tucked into the knees of the hills, a layer of woodsmokesliding overhead in misty layers. The sound of the bells of San Fernando Cathedral rang out, rain crows sailing through the air.”It is early spring of 1965 and the Civil War is mercifully grinding to a halt. Simon Boudlin, a twenty-three year old fiddler player, has been rambling around Texas, playing gigs where he can. After getting in trouble, during a bar fight, he is conscripted in a ragtag Confederate outfit,and ends up playing in the regiment band. During a chance encounter, he meets a pretty young Irish girl named Doris, that he falls head over heels for. The end of the war, splits these two up and the rest of this engaging novel, has the reader, follow Simon as he tries to track Doris down, through war-ravaged east and south Texas. Jiles has become such a solid and dependable writer. Her last book, News of the World was a complete joy and her latest is another winner. She does her research too and the detail here feels so rich and complete. For those of you who fondly remember Captain Kidd, from her earlier work, he makes a brief appearance here too and it definitely made me smile.