Page 7 - King William Newsletter • June 2020

Margaret Leeds with a borrowed autographed reader’s copy of News of the World
King William’s Bookmark
An at-home book escape presented by the King William-ish Book Club.
The King William-ish Book Club is a “neigh- borhood” club of readers that started in 2015, founded by the King William Fair Chair, Annice Hill. This club originally touted their name as the King William Book Club, but this group of ladies quickly grew. The new members in- cluded women who supported our neighbor- hood but did not live within the boundaries of King William, so the club’s name evolved to the King William-ish Book Club.
We are excited to announce the inclusion of a new column in the King William Association Newsletter that will feature a book review pre- sented by a King William-ish Book Club mem- ber. Margaret Leeds, who also serves on the King William Association Board of Directors, presents this month’s book review.
If you are interested in joining this group of vivacious ladies, email Annice at HillA3@ uthscsa.edu. The King William-ish Book Club gathers on the last Monday of every month, unless there is a holiday. In the case of a hol- iday, Annice will inform the club of the new meet-up date. During this time of COVID-19, the King William-ish Book Club is meeting by Zoom video conference.
For the month of June, the club will meet on June 22nd to discuss A Rock Between Two Rivers: The Fracturing of a Texas Family Ranch by Hugh Asa Fitzsimons III. •
News of the World
Margaret Leeds
I highly recommend this rich historical fiction offering by Paulette Jiles, a local author! News of the World centers around a 70-year-old man, Captain Kidd, who carries news of the world to the people of Texas after the Civil War. He is a quiet hero entrusted with returning a 10-year- old to her family. What ensues is an exploration of the history and cultures that made Texas. The author conducted extensive research in support of the storyline. The tale rings true, but the best parts of the novel offer raw descriptions of Texas life, wry humor, prolonged suspense and moral dilemma.
About This Read
Harper Collins Publishers
It is 1870 and Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd travels through northern Texas, giving live readings 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 unset- tled 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 tentative- ly begin to trust each other, forging 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. Exquisitely rendered and morally complex, News of the World is a brilliant work of histor- ical fiction that explores the boundaries of family, responsibility, honor, and trust.
KWA NEWSLETTER 7