Union officer John Chenneville suffered a terrible head wound shortly before the end of the Civil War, and he remains in a Virginia hospital long after the war before he suddenly surprises everyone by regaining consciousness. But even after John finally makes it back to his Missouri home, he can remember very little of life there before the war, and details are slow to come back to him. For weeks, his health is deemed to be still so precarious, in fact, that John's uncle fears giving him some tragic family news: John's sister, her husband, and their baby boy have all been brutally murdered...and the man responsible is going to get away with it.
A.J. Dodd is out there somewhere, and now all John Chenneville can think about is finding him - and killing him. It will be another year before John is physically able to begin the chase, one that will take him all the way from Missouri to Texas. Once Dodd figures out exactly who is so determined to find him, it is all he can do to stay one frustrating step after another ahead of his pursuer, but he does.
Sometime on foot, sometime on horseback, John refuses to give up the chase despite the numerous setbacks he encounters. This, however, is more than just a test of the man's physical endurance. As the miles mount up, John will as often be threatened by murderous scoundrels as he will meet kindhearted people wanting to help him find Dodd. The problem is in telling one from the other.
In John Chenneville, Paulette Jiles has created a memorable character, one that becomes more and more real to readers as they come to know him. John is a good man, but he is a man whose pride and love of family demands that he avenge the death of his sister and her family. He has no other choice, and he knows it. He will think of little else until he confronts Dobbs face-to-face. But as the miles begin to take their toll, John can't help but wonder if he will ever find the man:
"He was deeply afraid of another disappointment, another dead end. He was afraid not of other men but of despair."
Call it historical fiction, call it a western, but what this is is a novel about a man who has had his future stolen from him, and who knows he will never be able to get it back. Now someone has to pay, and John Chenneville knows exactly who that is.
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| Paulette Jiles (Texas Monthly photo) |
I loved Jiles' News of the World. But the revenge plot of this one doesn't appeal to me as much. I'm glad it turned out to be a winning read for you. :D
ReplyDeleteRevenge is definitely the driving force in the novel, but it really turns more into a primitive road trip book as John encounters different people and situations along the way. And the ending is very clever, I thought.
ReplyDeleteLike Lark, I'm not usually big on revenge plots. I really enjoyed NEWS OF THE WORLD, though, so I'm definitely up for another read by Jiles. Glad you enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteRevenge is what causes physical healing, in this case, because John is so set on catching up with the guy who murdered his sister. He works especially hard to recover as much of his physical skill as at all possible. Actually, though, it is more of a chase story than any actual act of revenge.
DeleteYeah I'd read Jiles again after News of the World. I like the worlds she creates ... quite vivid as if you're on a horse yourself, Lol.
ReplyDeleteShe is a nice person, too. Met her not long before publication of News of the World at a library event and was just about the only person who approached her after the presentation. She didn't seem to mind that no one was much interested in the new book (although she did field several questions during the session itself), and spoke with me for about 20 minutes about her life, where she lives, and the kind of reading we both enjoy. She asked for suggestions, and the like. I've not had that kind of conversation with an author at a public event ever again.
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