John Chenneville is a broken man. He suffered a near fatal head wound in the Civil War and traveled home to find that his sister and her family were murdered. John has nothing left to live for but to get revenge on the man who did it. He travels from St Louis to San Antonio, suffering hardship and danger. He knows that his life is over when his task is complete, but he is willing to spend the rest of his life in prison for the satisfaction of killing the murderer.
This book is not as easy to read and Jiles’ previous books like News of the World. The prose is rich and requires a slower pace. However, it gains pace by the third chapter and gets increasingly compelling.
Another great work by Paulette Jiles. Highly recommended.

After the Civil War, former Union soldier John Chenneville tracks his sister Lalie’s killer, a crooked deputy named Dodd, across hundreds of miles of battle-ravaged Indian territory and the U.S. frontier. His hard and painful journey takes him from Missouri to the Gulf Coast of Texas in CHENNEVILLE by Paulette Jiles (William Morrow/HarperCollins, September 12, 2023). Dodd also murdered Lalie’s husband and infant son (Chenneville’s namesake). As he flees from Chenneville, Dodd is still committing murders, but being a deputy, he is above the law. Chenneville wants to kill Dodd more than anything, but on the long manhunt in 1866-67 Chenneville finds himself being less of an avenger and more of a savior, both of animals and people. Chenneville attracts life and goodness at almost every stop on his quest for vengeance. Because of a terrible war wound in Chenneville’s head; Dodd’s willingness to steal, cripple, and kill horses to move faster; and a compulsion to be honorable in every situation; Chenneville falls far behind his quarry.

A brilliant and lovely telegraph operator is the biggest distraction from Chenneville’s mission, because she knows what he does not: his real mission is to map his post-war life. To discover what kind of man limped out of that field hospital in Virginia where they sewed his head back together. To map out a future for one John Chenneville. Along with a US Marshal who thinks Chenneville committed one of Dodd’s murders, the benevolent ghost of his own future healed and whole self tracks Chenneville through the middle of what will be the USA, just as surely as he tracks the evil Dodd.

Evocative and moving, this novel was impossible to put down or to read quickly. Jiles did some brilliant period research and the novel is bursting with rich and livid descriptions of a vanished landscape.

4 1/2 stars
John Chenneville newly discharged from the Civil War comes home to find his sister, her husband and baby brutally murdered. Determined to find whoever is responsible he sets out to dispense justice in what seems a lawless land -Texas. He is a gentle soul suffering from the aftermath of such inhumanity and violence and he tries to do good on his journey to stop someone bad. Paulette Jiles has a gift of taking a rugged landscape filled with honest down to earth good people caught in situations not of their making. She gives us tragic and brutal stories with a soft underbelly. Do I want this to be a movie with Tom Hanks as the star - heck yes! For lovers of all quiet westerns with unforgettable characters like her other books and those of Larry McMurtry. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

What a great book. I loved The News of the World by Paulette Jiles, so I had to read this one. I loved this one too. The characters are so real that I felt like I stepped back in time. I loved the story and the writing was phenomenal. Maybe the best book of 2023.

Slow moving revenge story. Well written. Beautiful.
But the pacing was slow. It felt odd to “meander” toward the killer. Thus the three stars.

Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to preview this
book.

Paulette Jiles is one of those authors I pick and choose with. In general, I love her writing, but I haven't read every single book. I'm just picky that way. So, this was a super welcome outing because, in a lot of ways, it's very reminiscent of Enemy Women, the first Jiles novel I read and still love.

The understated prose gives you a picturesque view of a bygone landscape; it's romantic, sparse but also rich. The pace is measured and patient rather than frantic with suspense, and I believe the surprising end is better for it. The love story is extraordinary in its emotion: sudden, deep, and yearning. Much like the characters, you're never quite satisfied yet its strange allure compels and remains with you after the final page.

And there's just no other way to say it but plain: Damn, John Chenneville is cool.

Thank you to Net Galley for providing an early copy of Chenneville by Paulette Jiles

"He walked in a swinging route step to the south, bent on murder".

The post-Civil War life of soldier John Chenneville is constant movement as he sets out to avenge the deaths of family members beginning in Missouri and ending in Texas.

John Chenneville suffered a head injury during his service and healing is not 100%. There is a deep feeling of anticipation as John finally approaches home after months of recuperation. When he returns to his homestead he learns that his younger sister, her husband and 1-year-old son have been murdered. Gathering what information he can and following clues, John has only one focus: to take the life of the man who murdered his family.

In his quest, and traveling under q false name in order not to give anything away, John will meet and spend time with a telegraph operator who asks nothing more from John than sharing a meal and playing chess. Through him, John will communicate with a female telegraph operator in another region and whom John will seek out as he continues his search.

The land he travels, the horses and dogs he encounters, the US Marshall along with his own deep and troubled thinking combine to bring John's journey to an unexpected and hopeful conclusion.

Paulette Jiles has created another enduring tale of a man with a job to do who allows nothing to stand in his way.

Very enjoyable read. Will be easy to recommend to many different kinds of readers. I’d like to read more from this author. This was only my second by her.

Paulette Jiles brings the Reconstruction era in the United States to life once again with Chenneville. Lyrical and moving, the novel follows one soldiers desperate quest for vengeance in the war ravaged West. The pacing can be a bit slow, but it's realistic. Jiles way of writing connects you to the protagonist and you find yourself invested in the trials and tribulations that lead to the inevitable transformation of character. Highly recommend for lovers of westerns and history. #chenneville #paulettejiles #netgalley #goodreads

Chenneville : a Novel of Murder, Loss and Vengeance
Paulette Jiles
Pub Date: September 12: 2023
William Morrow
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
I enjoyed reading News of the World and this one was just as good!
Chenneville is likeable and kind- all the while being fixated on killing his sister’s murderer. I was enthralled from the first page to the end, I highly recommend this book for book clubs.
5 stars

This book beautifully illustrated the beauty, the isolation and the distances within the United States in post-Civil War times. John Chenneville suffered from a head injury while fighting in the Civil War. After a long stay in the hospital, John returns home only to find that his sister and her family were murdered. John's only thought from that moment on is finding the person who did that heinous act and killing that person. John travels by horseback through countryside that is ravaged by war and still under martial control, hunting the killer. The trail is long and lonely. The desolation, loneliness and fear are felt in the author's style of writing, lending a suspenseful atmosphere
to the book. The book moves along slowly but I never lost interest in finding out what happens throughout the book. This book will not appeal to everyone but I urge all of those who like Western type books to give it a read. I am most appreciative for the digital ARC I received from NetGalley and William Morris. This review is my own thoughts and opinions.

I wasn’t sure I’d like this book as much as News of the World, but I was wrong. Chenneville is utterly captivating.

John Chenneville was severely injured in the war with massive head injuries and woke up in a hospital not remembering much of anything. After nearly a year of trying to recover, he was finally released from the hospital, but his life was irrevocably changed. Upon his arrival home, he was told his beloved sister, her small child and her husband were murdered. Chenneville made the decision that nothing meant more to him than seeking revenge for that murder. He gets himself healthy, puts on some weight, relearns how to use his gun and hit a target, gathers supplies, gets his affairs in order and heads out to find the man who destroyed his family. As he makes his way over rugged terrain, in freezing temperatures, struggles through snowstorms and fights hunger and sleepless nights, his sights never wavered.

One of my favorite things about the protagonist, Chenneville, is that he’s so likable and unwaveringly kind, all the while being fixated on killing his sister’s murderer. I was completely enthralled from the first page to the last. This is easily a 5-star read for me. I’m grateful to NetGalley and William Morrow for the advanced copy. This is due to hit the shelves on September 12, 2023.

I have read and enjoyed several of Paulette Jiles previous books (The Colour of Lightning, News of the World, Simon the Fiddler), so I was eager to read an ARC copy of her forthcoming novel, Chenneville, to be published in early September.

Chenneville follows the titular character on a journey in pursuit of a murderer through post-Civil War Texas as he wrestles with his extreme grief . . . for all that was lost in the war, generally, for the loss of his beloved family members, and for the loss of his own future. With vengeance as his driving force, John Chenneville faces all the challenges of life in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War.

Chenneville lacks the charm of Jiles’ News of the World and the poetry of The Colour of Lightning. Like Simon the Fiddler, the pace of Chenneville is slow and methodical, bringing a good sense of the discomforts of post-Civil War life. The writing is spare and withdrawn, and I felt little connection to the characters.

I recommend this book for readers interested in learning more about post-Civil War life, particularly in Texas, but not for those looking for the charm of News of the World.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on September 12, 2023.

2.5 stars

Paulette truly has a way with words and describing the troubled man on a quest to set things right. She has done that successfully, once again, in Chenneville. I couldn't put it down but also didn't want it to end. Beautiful writing, difficult times (post Civil War), challenging situations faced by an exhausted but determined man. John Chenneville is a complex and human character who comes alive on the pages.

What a good story. This was set right after the civil war, and the country was in chaos. And our main character was recovering from a major head wound when he learned of a violent crime in his family. So he vows vengeance and heads on a chase.

This was a part of history that I’ve read very little about. It was interesting and I would love to read some history on it. The pacing felt kind of slow in the beginning, but it held my interest. Think “Lonesome Dove” pacing. It’s gets interesting and then, boom, he’s on a horse for pages and pages.

Overall, this was great. I was disappointed in the ending, I’m not going to lie. I really wanted something different, but it doesn’t take away from the rest of the book. And I like how our character handles the ending. So overall, I would recommend this, but not everyone is going to like a cowboy book. It’s a specific genre that isn’t explored much anymore, and that’s such a shame. They are deliciously fun!

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the advanced reader copy. This was my honest review.

Where ’News of the World’, is set in post–Civil War Texas, and the theme in Jiles ’Chenneville’ is also set in post-Civil War times, and both share a theme of grief and redemption, and there is also a journey in search of revenge, the only other thing they have in common is how beautiful each of these stories are shared.

This begins in the year 1865, and City Point Virginia where Union soldier John Chenneville is in a hospital, recovering from a head wound. For most of the time he has been there, he has not responded to anyone.

’He slowly pieced together the fragments of his present situation. He was in a field hospital somewhere. He was still in possession of both arms, both legs, a pair of feet, and a pair of hands. He could see out of both eyes…He quietly regarded the young man standing at the foot of his bed. He wondered if he were some relation to him.’
‘After a moment he said, “Who are you?”’

The boy who hears this is shocked. John Chenneville is talking, and the boy tells him that he is a nurse, with tears in his eyes. Shortly after, the doctor arrives, introduces himself, and then proceeds to test his eyesight, asks him if he knows where he is, along with a host of other questions and examinations of his body. It seems he was never expected to recover, he’s been there for so long, and it seems his body has practically withered away. He is ordered by the doctor to stay in bed for a minimum of two days.

He eventually returns to the home where he grew up, but things have changed. His family has changed, as has the house… the whole world has changed, as will his world when he hears how much it has changed.

This is a story of family, love, loss, and a journey seeking vengeance.



Pub Date: 12 Sep 2023

Many thanks for the ARC provided by William Morrow