The Color of Lightning

By: Paulette Jiles

Narrated by: Jack Garrett

In 1863, the War Between the States creeps slowly yet inevitably toward its bloody conclusion - and eastern thoughts are already turning to different wars and enemies. Searching for a life and future, former Kentucky slave Britt Johnson is venturing west into unknown territory with his wife, Mary, and their three children - wary but undeterred by sobering tales of atrocities inflicted upon those who trespass against the Comanche and the Kiowa. Settling on the Texas plains, the Johnson family hopes to build on the dreams that carried them from the Confederate South to this new land of possibility - dreams that are abruptly shattered by a brutal Indian raid upon the settlement while Britt is away establishing a business. Returning to face the unthinkable - his friends and neighbors slain or captured, his eldest son dead, his beloved Mary severely damaged and enslaved, and his remaining children absorbed into an alien society that will never relinquish its hold on them - the heartsick freedman vows not to rest until his family is whole again.

Samuel Hammond follows a different road west. A Quaker whose fortune is destroyed by a capricious act of an inscrutable God, he has resigned himself to the role the Deity has chosen for him. As a new agent for the Office of Indian Affairs, it is Hammond's goal to ferret out corruption and win justice for the noble natives now in his charge. But the proud, stubborn people refuse to cease their raids, free their prisoners, and accept the farming implements and lifestyle the white man would foist upon them, adding fuel to smoldering tensions that threaten to turn a man of peace, faith, and reason onto a course of terrible retribution.

A soaring work of the imagination based on oral histories of the post - Civil War years in North Texas, Paulette Jiles's The Color of Lightning is at once an intimate look into the hearts and hopes of tragically flawed human beings and a courageous reexamination of a dark American ...

©2009 Paulette Jiles (P)2009 HarperCollins Publishers

Very sad story.

The writer is amazing but subject is tragic. I am sure it is based on factual events nevertheless.

This book is a favorite

Really like this author. She weaves geography, history, and a great naritive together beautifully. I highly recommend it.

excellent story of Texas History

I cannot allow my Middle school kids to read it due to some language, but it's great for those who read News of the world to follow up

Wonderful, beautiful. Historical page turner.

I read "News of the World" first then had to read this one. Loved every bit of it and was sad it ended. It's based on a real historical character and I just love him. A real Western and a commentary on race relations in post-Civil War Texas between blacks, whites, and native Americans and the religious groups who tried to negotiate peace with the natives. It's about native Native American culture. There's a little bit of Girl Power sprinkled in.

Awesome story !

this story is definitely told from a different perspective, probably the most authentic, not for the faint of heart; as massacres aren't; the narrator did an excellent job, very easy to listen to, well worth the read

The author's style of writing.

Well told story that kept my attention all the way. I could hardly put it down.

Old west, survival, slavery, native american story

Would you listen to The Color of Lightning again? Why?

no, i dont re-listen to books

Who was your favorite character and why?

Britt, but there are so many great ones

What does Jack Garrett bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He does the voices

If you could rename The Color of Lightning, what would you call it?

n/a

Any additional comments?

good narration, he does the voices. Id never heard the story of Britt Johnson before, so it was fun tying in this book to the history. Careful though, the author, although a literary writer with lovely descriptions, pushes you into situations without warning. The violence is as matter of fact, I imagine, as it was a part of life in the old west. If you like stories of survival, the old west and native peoples, you will enjoy this book!

Truth and Fiction

I found The Color of Lightening to be less-tight as a narrative than Jiles' "News of the World", but the interweaving of real events, real people, with fictional imaginings was perhaps more interesting. I was born in Young County and know many of the places in the story. I've also read about many of the captives mentioned in the story, sometimes in passing, sometimes in depth. It's a fascinating point in Texas history, between worlds, and the author captures the confusion of the times, the identity crisis of several ethnic groups and people in the middle of a changing world. Her descriptions of nature are some of the best. In that sense, the title of the book is a prelude to the way her voice evokes the land. I would read it again. I've recommended it to several history buffs. It's also just a darn good read.

Excellent read or listening book

well written, informative. a beautifully written story, teaching history in way that would move anyone and never be forgot and yet s person would would not 'feel' as they were learning.

Beautifully written

The inevitable, deadly collision of cultures between the indigenous plains people and the American settlers is so tragic that it’s heartbreaking. There was no way for the two sides to understand each other’s world view or values. This book provides valuable insights into that conflict. And the narrator does a great job with the telling. The writing is awkward in a few spots, but overall is compelling. Such a sad history.