Simon the Fiddler by Paulette Jiles
After leaving a Confederate regimental band, Simon Boudin ends up in Galveston. A talented musician, Simon and a couple of other indigent veterans are able to make enough money to keep themselves fed and clothed.
When Simon and his fellow musicians are commissioned to play at a formal dinner of Union and Confederate officers, Simon see Doris Mary Dillon for the first time. Doris, an indentured Irish girl, serves as governess to Colonel Webb’s daughter. Her life with the Colonel’s family is anything but pleasant. Simon is determined to buy land and marry Doris if she’ll have him helping her to escape from the abusive Webb family as soon as possible.
This is a compelling story filled with violence and romance at the end of the Civil War.
~Emma
Read it or Weep 