One of the joys of reading is that you become an observer - a safe, secure, detached one, of course - of another place, people or way of life. For a day or two, while immersed in a book, you are privy to the hows, whys and wherefores of an existence far removed from your own.
Nina Vida's fascinating and very engrossing novel The Texicans took me to 1840s Texas and to a world of settlers, Native Americans, slaves and immigrants of which I had only the vaguest awareness before. Western films (not really my cup of tea) are a pale version of the detail, the human interest and the very harsh way of life portrayed in this book.
The story begins with a young Mexican girl, Aurelia, thought to be a healer or even a bruja - a witch - married off to a Ranger for money to feed her family. Her path eventually crosses that of schoolteacher Joseph Kimmel who is travelling through Texas on his way to settle his deceased brother's affairs, but misadventure and more than one fateful encounter alter his course. From here on there is action, danger, survival in the most extreme circumstances and a diverse but wholly believable group of people trying to make a life for themselves in a hitherto uncolonised place. I'd never heard of Henri Castro before, but he and his story are here; however, it is the remarkable Joseph - "circumspect, unencumbered, solitary", who ends up as leader, rancher and shrewd businessman, showing a doggedness, a pragmatism, a linear way of thinking which leads him to his ultimate destiny.
Justice is primitive, the threat from the Comanches and rogue Rangers ever-present, their morality unpalatable; combine that with the natural hardships of the colonists' existence and life is tough, brutal and uncompromising. But as the struggle merely to subsist gives way to a degree of prosperity, characters grow into their new roles and develop, and a story which could have been formulaic is far from that.
If the word 'Western' brings only images of 'Cowboys and Indians' to mind, then read this book and discover the real story behind the Hollywood version. Great stuff!
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