Book Review: Simon the Fiddler by Paulette Jiles
Following a theme established in her earlier novel News of the World, Jiles gives us a sweeping western story with a good number of twists and turns in Simon the Fiddler. Her book records the experiences of a young man pursuing his dream of music and trying to stay out of the Civil War's last gasps.
It is the spring of 1865 and young Simon Boudin finds himself an unwilling soldier in the rapidly dissolving Confederate army on the Texas coast. Having dodged the draft for some time by pretending to be underage, Simon finds himself with little more than his beloved fiddle and the clothes on his back. Now with a musket and a few rounds, he and a ragtag group face off against a Union army regiment commanded by an ambitious colonel who seeks one last battle as a chance for promotion.
Asked to play for the Union and Confederate officers at a peace party, Simon glimpses a beautiful young woman who turns out to be the nanny for the Union colonel's daughter. Bewitched by her, Simon begins to plan on how he can improve his fortunes and win her hand. Both he and a few others form a quartet of wandering minstrels who travel down the Texas coast, playing in saloons and hotels. Simon learns to work with others and to begin to trust them, even if they are not of the same race or nationality. We learn Simon's backstory of how loss of home and family drove him out West. Simon's companions all have interesting stories as well, some tragic, others comical. Each meets a different destiny as they travel.
Simon finds allies as he seeks his love, and finds the human frame can be deceitful and surprising, and sometimes humorous (his experiences with a land agent are reminiscent of Mattie Ross in Charles Portis’ True Grit). He works to better himself as a person by being as honest and responsible as he can, even becoming a father figure for a while to a young man and fellow traveler. Eventually Simon's struggle reaches a personal and public Rubicon, and his heart's desire is fulfilled in a way that bespeaks the hidden strengths that women have always carried within themselves.
Paulette Jiles does a good job of portraying a state and country nervously trying to get back to normal life following the huge disruptions of the war and early Reconstruction period. Her characters all ring true, from villains to heroines, farmers to judges.
Fans of vintage or historical music will be interested in the variety and scope of the pieces brought into play throughout Simon the Fiddler. Paulette Jiles has created another great set of characters and the story winds them together beautifully. Readers of historical fiction will especially enjoy this book.
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