Chenneville A novel of murder, loss, and vengeance

When John Chenneville awakes in a military field hospital, pounds thinner and with no memory of his name or history, he has a long road to recovery ahead. The hospital staff make it clear that he must continue resting and recuperating, with no extreme emotions or upsetting news to further damage his fragile condition. By now, the Civil War has caused plenty of "shell shock," after all. Pledging to keep himself on an even keel, John journeys west to St. Louis to seek news of his family. But the longtime caretaker of the Chenneville estate has been keeping deeply distressing knowledge that, once revealed, causes John to abandon plans of peaceful recovery and begin a quest for vengeance instead. In her richly lyrical prose, acclaimed author Jiles (Simon the Fiddler, 2020) turns to the waning weeks and months of the Civil War, a period when the scales of justice felt heavily tipped toward the war's administrators and beneficiaries. Jiles uses John's lawless quest to interrogate the inequalities in the justice system--inequalities that still echo loudly today. Themes of reinvention, accountability, and the power of all-consuming, single-minded focus will spark interest in fans of Geraldine Brooks, Karen Harper, and Jiles' previous work.

Jiles (News of the World) captivates with another reliably rugged western odyssey. Wounded in the head in the final months of the Civil War, Union Army lieutenant John Chenneville survives and, after recovering in a field hospital, is eventually sent home to St. Louis to recuperate. There, John is informed that his sister, her husband, and their infant child were all murdered by a deputy sheriff named Albert Dodd. After a year of rehabilitation, John decides he is strong enough to go after Dodd, who is on his way to Texas. Crossing into Indian Territory from Fort Smith, Ark., John meets Aubrey Robertson, an English telegrapher who gives him shelter during a snowstorm. But when Robertson is murdered, possibly by Dodd, John comes under suspicion, with a dogged U.S. Marshal named Giddens on his trail. As he enters Union-occupied Texas, John receives help from telegraph operator Victoria Reavis, who keeps him apprised of both Dodd's and Giddens's movements as all three men head for a fateful showdown in San Antonio. As usual, Jiles impresses with vital characterizations, well-honed dialogue, and a granular depiction of the Old West. She also steeps readers in the lore of 19th-century technologies such as the telegraph, and dramatizes how it transformed society. This tale has true grit. (Sept.)