Simon the fiddler: a novel
(Book)

National Book Award finalist.

"In March 1865, the long and bitter War between the States is winding down. Till now, twenty-three-year-old Simon Boudlin has evaded military duty thanks to his slight stature, youthful appearance, and utter lack of compunction about bending the truth. But following a barroom brawl in Victoria, Texas, Simon finds himself conscripted, however belatedly, into the Confederate Army. Luckily his talent with a fiddle gets him a comparatively easy position in a regimental band. Weeks later, on the eve of the Confederate surrender, Simon and his bandmates are called to play for officers and their families from both sides of the conflict. There the quick-thinking, audacious fiddler can't help but notice the lovely Doris Mary Aherne, an indentured girl from Ireland, who is governess to a Union colonel's daughter. Simon is smitten by Doris, but learns that the eighteen-year-old Irish girl is indentured; by contract, she must finish her three years of service, remaining with the colonel's family wherever his is stationed. After the surrender, Simon and Doris go their seperate ways. Yet, as he travels around Texas, seeking fame and fortune as a musician, Simon cannot forget the fair Irish maiden, and vows that someday he will find her again." --book jacket