(Read by Grover Gardner; Brilliance Audio; five CDs; six hours)
Captain Jefferson Kidd is a lonely widower who travels through Texas in 1870 reading the news to earn a living. He suddenly finds himself saddled with a 10-year-old girl who was captured by the Kiowa and must be returned to her German immigrant family. A surprising bond forms between the two as they face danger and adventure while crossing hostile territory. Jiles, who is also a poet, writes expressively and compellingly of a time that she clearly researched thoroughly. Gardner, a favorite narrator, has a distinctive voice that is full of personality that delivers sophistication or gruff Germanic gruffness, as needed. A –
