Simon the Fiddler (Jiles) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
The reader is treated to a kind of alchemy on the page when character, setting and song converge at all the right notes, generating an authentic humanity that is worth remembering and celebrating.
New York Times


[Jiles's] description of Simon and Doris traveling on separate journeys across the Texas landscape is superb, causing us to feel the elation and sense of possibility that rises in the hearts of man, woman and beast in setting out on the road.
Wall Street Journal


Endearing…. And when the final battle royal arrives in San Antonio, it’s just the rousing ballad we want to hear.
Washington Post


Jiles’ sparse but lyrical writing is a joy to read…. A beautifully written book and a worthy follow-up to News of the World.
Associated Press


In Simon the Fiddler we once again accompany a cast of intriguing characters on a suspenseful Texas-based quest just after the Civil War.… A crackling-good adventure tale.
Minneapolis Star Tribune

 
Luminescent prose.… Jiles’ timeworn territory provides a cozy escape.
Los Angeles Times


Jiles’s gritty and richly atmospheric seventh novel returns to the post–Civil War Texas she explored in News of the World.… Jiles immerses the reader in the sensory details of the era…. [Her] limber tale satisfies with welcome splashes of comedy and romance.
Publishers Weekly


(Starred review) Imbued with the dust, grit, and grime of Galveston at the close of the Civil War,… Jiles brings… her written word as lyrical and musical as Simon's bow raking over his strings. Loyal Jiles readers… will adore the author's latest masterpiece.
Booklist


(Starred review) [A]tmospheric adventure… [with] clever plotting …true to Jiles' loving but cleareyed portrait of Texas' vibrant, violent frontier culture. Vividly evocative and steeped in American folkways: more great work from a master storyteller.
Kirkus Reviews