The Thread

A story of how far people will go for love

'Simon the Fiddler' by Paulette Jiles
'Simon the Fiddler' by Paulette Jiles
Courtesy of publisher

Every week, The Thread checks in with booksellers around the country about their favorite books of the moment. This week, we spoke to April Gorski from Book Vault in Oskaloosa, Iowa.


Paulette Jiles was a National Book Award Finalist for her previous book, “A Map of the World,” and this story picks up some familiar characters. Set in Texas at the very end of the Civil War, a fiddle player named Simon spots a woman at an officer’s dinner: she’s an Irish indentured servant, working for an officer from the opposing side.

As their travels separate them across Texas, bookseller April Gorksi says, this is “a story of how far people will go to be with the ones they love.”