Chenneville by Paulette Jiles

July 6, 2024

Chenneville by Paulette Jiles

John Chenneville, a lieutenant in the Union Army and a telegrapher, suffers a grave head injury in the waning days of the Civil War that leaves him in a coma for months. When he recovers consciousness, the war is over and most of the troops have returned home. His injury forces him to re-learn to speak, walk, and perform basic tasks. When he finally arrives at his family home outside St. Louis, he finds out that his younger sister, her husband and their baby son have all been murdered by a sheriff's deputy. The deputy has gone on to murder several other people. When he discovers that the local sheriff has no intention of bringing the man to justice for the murders, John vows to hunt the man down and exact his own revenge.

I think I started this once before but had to return it because there was a waiting list. I'm glad I decided to go back to it - it was totally worth it. I loved Jiles' previous book News of the World (which is referenced once toward the end of this book), and this novel features the same type of knight errant as the protagonist in her previous book. John knows that his actions are criminal and that he is planning to commit murder, but he lives according to his own single-minded code of right and wrong. Wonderfully written, highly recommended to readers of historical and literary fiction.

19th century telegraph office, with a female telegrapher