Book
The Color of Lightning
First published 2009
During the final years of the Civil War, the formerly enslaved Britt Johnson moves his wife Mary and their children from Kentucky to north Texas in search of land and independence. Their settlement lies within a contested frontier. When a large Kiowa and Comanche war party attacks, Mary and the children are taken captive and carried onto the plains.
Britt undertakes a dangerous effort to locate and ransom his family, negotiating across communities divided by war, race, land claims and federal policy. His search runs beside the work of Quaker agent Samuel Hammond, who tries to reduce violence while confronting the damage inflicted on both Native peoples and settlers. The novel draws on the documented life of Britt Johnson without reducing the frontier conflict to a simple story of revenge.
More from this period
5 more top-rated novels about Emancipation and Reconstruction
Ranked by rating and voting volume; books already shown on this page are omitted.
More from this period
5 more top-rated novels about Texas–Comanche Conflict
Ranked by rating and voting volume; books already shown on this page are omitted.
More by the author
Other books by Paulette Jiles
Discover more
Authors similar to Paulette Jiles
Recommended from shared genres and periods.
Louis L’Amour
97 books
John Jakes
18 books
James Fenimore Cooper
25 books
Gilbert Morris
104 books