The cannibal owl A novella

Gwyn (All God's Children, 2020) provides a taut novella loosely inspired by the life of Levi English, a pioneering figure from Dimmit County, Texas. Orphaned as a child and abused by his adoptive family, Levi runs away and is taken in by members of the Comanche Tribe. Though different factions of the tribal village argue over Levi's fate, he earns the affection of an elder called Poe-paya, who guards Levi's safety so long as he is alive. Years later, on Poe-paya's deathbed, he begs Levi to protect his daughter. Levi assures Poe-paya he will, but when the different factions come to blows, Levi finds himself frozen by love, confusion, and fear, unable to perform the very task he promised his adoptive grandfather. Forced out of the tribe, Levi plans and executes a violent revenge. Gwyn writes with sparse, unflinching prose and a focus on Comanche Tribal customs; a story like this would be poorly served by flowery language or an inauthentic understanding of Native American tradition. Austere and cinematic.

This arresting novella from Gwyn (All God's Children) chronicles the early life of minor Texas historical figure Levi English. In 1825, eight-year-old Levi's father is murdered in Arkansas, and he moves in with his aunt and uncle, who then take him to Texas. Levi's uncle abuses him, causing him to run away and eventually take up residence with a group of Comanche. As Levi enters his teens, he learns the Comanche language and adopts their traditions under the guidance of elderly bow-maker Poe-paya, who recounts stories of Mupitsi, a cannibal owl that punishes bad children. Levi, Poe-paya, and Poe-paya's daughter, Morning Star, take note of rising tensions between leaders of their group, and on his deathbed, Poe-paya warns the boy of potential violence ahead. The narrative shuttles at a dizzying pace through Levi's search for a proper home amid bloodshed and betrayal, but there's a hypnotic cadence to the lyrical prose ("The trees they passed were like bones; the wind gasping across the prairie was the breath of bones"). Gwyn's story thrums with life. Agent: Peter Straus, RCW Literary. (Jan.)