
Simon the Fiddler
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Grover Gardner
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By:
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Paulette Jiles
The critically acclaimed, best-selling author of News of the World and Enemy Women returns to Texas in this atmospheric story, set at the end of the Civil War, about an itinerant fiddle player, a ragtag band of musicians with whom he travels trying to make a living, and the charming young Irish lass who steals his heart.
In March 1865, the long and bitter War between the States is winding down. Till now, 23-year-old Simon Boudlin has evaded military duty thanks to his slight stature, youthful appearance, and utter lack of compunction about bending the truth. But following a barroom brawl in Victoria, Texas, Simon finds himself conscripted, however belatedly, into the Confederate Army. Luckily his talent with a fiddle gets him a comparatively easy position in a regimental band.
Weeks later, on the eve of the Confederate surrender, Simon and his bandmates are called to play for officers and their families from both sides of the conflict. There the quick-thinking, audacious fiddler can’t help but notice the lovely Doris Mary Aherne, an indentured girl from Ireland, who is governess to a Union colonel’s daughter.
After the surrender, Simon and Doris go their separate ways. He will travel around Texas seeking fame and fortune as a musician. She must accompany the colonel’s family to finish her three years of service. But Simon cannot forget the fair Irish maiden, and vows that someday he will find her again.
Incandescent in its beauty, told in Paulette Jiles’ trademark spare yet lilting style, Simon the Fiddler is a captivating, bittersweet tale of the chances a devoted man will take, and the lengths he will go to fulfill his heart’s yearning.
©2020 Paulette Jiles (P)2020 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...




















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Another treasure
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The story is mostly about Simon, who hopes to establish himself as a serious musician and landowner who can court Doris by the time he can catch up to her in San Antonio, where the callous military officer who holds her rights is stationed. That story is mostly a character study of Simon, his band mates, the people he meets along the way, and the locale, post-war Texas as a full blown character in its own right.
But nothing much really happens other than Simon and his friends trying to survive and move along from one place to another. Then Simon reaches San Antonio and meets back up with Doris -- though a small part of the book toward the end, the plot then kicks into overdrive, replete with courtroom drama, which then wraps up as abruptly as it started, hence my deduction of one star from Story for an otherwise wonderful novel.
The best thing about Simon the Fiddler is the music, which becomes more than a metaphor, and like Texas itself becomes a full blown character. For people like me who are musicians well versed in old time Americana, this is pure gold. Jiles doesn't just throw out song titles willy nilly -- she knows her stuff, going into detail about lyrics, arrangements, alternate titles, even some music theory and musicology. There's a playlist on YouTube of all the titles mentioned in the book which you can listen to as you read along.
The best example, especially as it's a song most people would be familiar with even now, 150 years later, is Red River Valley, the song Doris asks Simon to play when they first meet -- Simon buys land near the Red River in Texas as part of his plan to woo Doris. Never mind that the song could not have been that well known at that time (if it was even known at all), nor could some of other songs like Whiskey Before Breakfast that became popular years later -- the musical references are still tons of fun.
Especially Good for Lovers of Old-Timey Music
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Masterful research
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Simons thoughts and ingenuity as the fiddler were interesting.
Simon the fiddler
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Wonderful story
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Simple expressions can both terrify you while you simultaneously fall in love.
God bless you Paulette...
and Grover... I’m still in love with you.
She Swirls phrases like milk in coffee
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authenticity about texas too.
wonderful book & reader
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Good description of the characters
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Disappointing
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Good Solid Story
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