The movie based on this book was recommended to me by my mom, but I thought I’d read the book first. It was one of my favorites of this year.
The story follows two characters, but unconventional and not the kind of people I usually read about in fiction. Captain Kidd is an old guy, easing into the end of his days, but he still has a wealth of experience, sharp vision, and a keen sense of what he needs to put up with and what he doesn’t (or shouldn’t have to). Most of the story has the characters traveling through a very wild and chaotic landscape – the North Texas territory on the cusp of statehood. We don’t know who is the law, who are bandits, and we depend on Captain Kidd’s keen eyes and knowledge of human nature.
The other character, Johanna, is a white child recently recovered from captivity of a tribe of Kiowa, and we are treated to occasional glimpses of what she is thinking and how she sees the strange world of the white man. I loved the way that both characters influenced each other’s development.
The writer wrote with skill about the nature all around them – the beauty and the freedom that they find out there, and also the fleeting safety and danger of the towns they sometimes visited. The words are written in a sort of poetic style – but not syrupy or gushing. The writing really highlighted the natural environment without explicitly pointing things out.
Excellent book! Next I’m reading some Australian humor – Love with a Chance of Drowning by Torre DeRoche.
