In the year 2016, I was gifted with two novels. Little did I
know then that they were shortlisted for the 2016 National Book Awards. The
books were Karan Mahajan’s ‘The Association of Small Bombs’ and Colson
Whitehead’s ‘The Underground Railroad’. Masterpieces in their own accord, there
was one book that took me back to the shortlist again and re-examined the pieces
yet again. The book was ‘News of the World ’written by Paulette Jiles, who
passed away earlier this year.
The poet, novelist and memoirist, Paulette was born in Salem, Missouri, in 1943. Upon graduating in the year 1969, she moved to Toronto in
Canada. There at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, she set up a native
language FM station with the indigenous people in Ontario and Quebec. While
connecting with the natives, she also learned their culture and language.
Moving to San Antonio after marrying Jim Johnson and travelling to Mexico for
quite some time, she again moved to San Antonio.
With a list of works in her cohort, ‘News of the World’
stood out. Featuring Captain Kidd and Johanna, the plotline bears similarity to
Cynthia Ann Parker and Matilda Lockhart. Captain Kidd made his first appearance
in ‘The Colour of Lightning’, the 2010 novel. It is a historical novel that falls
in the genre of Western fiction. Set in the American Old West in the late
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Indian territory, Texas and San Antonio
become primary settings where the major plot unfolds. It’s a heart-warming story of
a bond forged between Captain Kidd and Johanna as the story progresses. Johanna,
named Cicada in Kiowa, was found in a semi-wild state. The captain was entrusted
with the responsibility of dropping her off at her relatives' in Texas. Abducted and
brought up in Kiowa ways, she doesn’t know English and refuses to cooperate
with the captain. While several subplots unfold where political upheavals
confront Captain and Johanna now and then, these turmoils give a necessary
boost and flavour to the main plot.
As the story comes to an end with Johanna rescued from her greedy and abusive relatives, Captain Kidd entrusts Johanna’s hand in marriage to John Calley. The match is symbolic of reconciliation and cultural assimilation. Paulette, as a memoirist, has penned a compelling tale. Owing to her experiences with the aboriginals of Ontario, she shaped Johanna. Indeed, ‘News of the World’ makes a mark in the genre of Western fiction.