News of the World

A Novel

By: Paulette Jiles

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Soon to be a Major Motion Picture

National Book Award Finalist—Fiction

In the aftermath of the Civil War, an aging itinerant news reader agrees to transport a young captive of the Kiowa back to her people in this exquisitely rendered, morally complex, multilayered novel of historical fiction from the author of Enemy Women that explores the boundaries of family, responsibility, honor, and trust.

In the wake of the Civil War, Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd travels through northern Texas, giving live readings from newspapers to paying audiences hungry for news of the world. An elderly widower who has lived through three wars and fought in two of them, the captain enjoys his rootless, solitary existence.

In Wichita Falls, he is offered a $50 gold piece to deliver a young orphan to her relatives in San Antonio. Four years earlier, a band of Kiowa raiders killed Johanna’s parents and sister; sparing the little girl, they raised her as one of their own. Recently rescued by the U.S. army, the ten-year-old has once again been torn away from the only home she knows.

Their 400-mile journey south through unsettled territory and unforgiving terrain proves difficult and at times dangerous. Johanna has forgotten the English language, tries to escape at every opportunity, throws away her shoes, and refuses to act “civilized.” Yet as the miles pass, the two lonely survivors tentatively begin to trust each other, forming a bond that marks the difference between life and death in this treacherous land.

Arriving in San Antonio, the reunion is neither happy nor welcome. The captain must hand Johanna over to an aunt and uncle she does not remember—strangers who regard her as an unwanted burden. A respectable man, Captain Kidd is faced with a terrible choice: abandon the girl to her fate or become—in the eyes of the law—a kidnapper himself.

Cover Image © 2020 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.

A gorgeous, perfect book

I’ve never written a review before. But this was such a wonderful, gorgeous, perfect book and the narrator was so exactly right, I had to say. I was swept away

Excellent story and perfect performance.

This story was excellent, and Grover Gardner was the perfect narrator! Thank you!

As an aside, Hollywood should be ashamed to have made such a disgraceful, lazy, dishonest movie purely to exploit an exceptional author’s work.

Appalling!

Amazing

I loved this story from the first word to the last! I highly recommend listening. Narrator is great and the story comes to life.

I wanted to read this before seeing the upcoming movie with Tom Hanks. I could see him perfectly in this role and am very much looking forward to the movie.

Please do read this book it is wicked good.

Captured My Heart

Fabulous story with great narration.
As a people, we continue to become better to all our citizens.
The work must continue

Excellent, Unique Story

Loved it, listened straight thru, wished it didnt have to end! Great story and narration, historical, educational, interesting, captivating!