Simon the Fiddler Summary: A Post-Civil War Love Story
Introduction
In the closing months of the American Civil War, a short-statured fiddler named Simon Boudlin dodges conscription across Texas while saving coins for a piece of land he can call his own.
Simon the Fiddler by Paulette Jiles follows him from a plantation barbecue to a Rio Grande regiment and into the chaos of Reconstruction.
When Simon performs at a surrender dinner, he catches sight of Doris Dillon, a young Irish governess bound by a strict labor contract.
What begins as a single glance becomes a long pursuit across a fractured, lawless state.
“He knew that he did not play music so much as walk into it, as if into a palace of great riches.”
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TL;DR: The Short Version
- Who: Simon Boudlin, a 23-year-old master fiddler from Paducah, Kentucky, and Doris Dillon, an 18-year-old Irish indentured governess.
- Where: Texas during the last months of the Civil War and the Reconstruction years that follow.
- What: Simon survives a regiment, a sea voyage, disease, and a murder trial while saving money to buy land and free Doris from her contract.
- Themes: music as refuge, the hunger for land and independence, and the disorder of a country rebuilding itself.
- Feel: Lyrical, episodic, and grounded in period detail rather than battlefield spectacle.
Simon the Fiddler Summary
Spoilers ahead. This section recounts the novel’s plot, including its ending.
Simon Boudlin earns his living playing Texas saloons, weddings, and funerals while dodging Confederate conscription officers. His youthful looks let him pass as a boy, and his violin keeps him moving from town to town.
In March 1865, a brawl in Victoria ends with his arrest. He is forced into Giddings’s Confederate Regiment along the Rio Grande as “Simon Walters.”
There he joins a regimental band and meets Damon Lessing, a former professor who plays the pennywhistle. The two wait out the war’s final days in harsh camp conditions.
Union forces attack at Palmito Ranch in May 1865. Simon risks rifle fire to rescue his Markneukirche violin, and after the Confederates surrender at Fort Brown, he knocks out a Union soldier to reclaim the instrument.
Released to form a mixed band of Union and Confederate musicians, Simon plays at an officers’ surrender dinner. There he sees Doris Dillon, Colonel Franklin Webb’s Irish governess, and performs “The Minstrel Boy” for her.
He learns Doris is bound to Webb by a three-year labor contract that bars courting, visits, and unmonitored mail. The next morning he serenades her wagon as it leaves for San Antonio.
Simon and Damon slip away with Doroteo Navarro, a Tejano guitarist, and Patrick O’Hehir, a thirteen-year-old drummer boy. They steal a boat and sail the Gulf Coast to Galveston.
In Galveston the group settles in a shack, finds saloon work, and builds a reputation. Patrick writes to Doris posing as an Irish countryman, hiding messages about Simon inside news of home.
Yellow fever sweeps the city in November 1865 and kills Patrick. Simon writes to Doris directly with the news and a new address in Houston.
The trio moves to Houston, living on an abandoned flatboat while saving money. Doris replies, describing her isolated life under Webb’s watchful eye.
In 1866 a drover offers them a wedding job in the Nueces Strip. The host turns out to be Solomon Bradford, who holds a 415-acre land grant near the Red River.
Simon plays “Shenandoah,” and Bradford agrees to sell the land at fifty cents an acre. Simon makes a hundred-dollar down payment from his savings.
Doroteo stays in the Nueces Strip while Simon and Damon walk northwest. In San Antonio, Simon finds work at the Plaza House Hotel and locates Doris.
They meet secretly at the market and inside San Fernando Cathedral. Doris describes Webb’s abuse, and Simon proposes; they plan to elope.
Webb discovers them and strikes Simon at a tea-dance. Days later, a drunk drummer named Pruitt assaults Doris and slashes Simon with a knife.
Simon kills Pruitt in self-defense with a broken violin bow. A hostile sheriff jails him and smashes his violin against the cell wall.
A brawler is placed in his cell and beats him severely. Lieutenant Jacob Whittaker transfers Simon to military custody and urges an immediate marriage so Doris cannot be forced to testify.
In manacles, Simon marries Doris at the Justice of the Peace. At the tribunal, Whittaker presents the shattered violin and proves self-defense; Colonel Frelich acquits Simon of all charges.
Simon recovers in a rented room, and Doris tends his wounds. A note from Damon mentions a Gaillard violin waiting in Fredericksburg.
Simon slips a peridot ring onto Doris’s finger. The novel ends with the couple preparing to travel north to their 415 acres in the Red River Valley.
Summary by Chapter
Spoilers. This section gives a brief summary of each chapter for readers who want to see what’s inside.
Simon the Fiddler contains 27 chapters, with no formal part divisions.
Chapter One
In October 1864, Simon evades conscription at an East Texas barbecue by hiding in an icehouse. He travels playing saloons and weddings while saving coins for land.
In March 1865, a Victoria saloon fight gets him arrested and forced into Giddings’s regiment under an alias. He settles into camp with bandmates, including pennywhistle player Damon Lessing.
Chapter Two
Union forces attack at Palmito Ranch during a thunderstorm on May 12, 1865. Simon retrieves his violin under fire and later reclaims it from a Union soldier with a thrown rock.
He is briefly jailed, then released to form a band for the officers’ surrender dinner.
Chapter Three
At the dinner, Simon sees Doris Dillon attending Colonel Webb’s family. He plays “The Minstrel Boy” for her and collects seventeen dollars in pay from the officers. An orderly sergeant warns him that Doris is bound by a contract barring courtship.
Chapter Four
Simon serenades Doris as her wagon departs, and she waves back. He skips the discharge line and is joined by Damon, Doroteo, and Patrick. The four steal a boat and sail toward Galveston.
Chapter Five
The quartet sails for days past Indianola, sharing dried apple slices to survive. They reach Galveston harbor at night and abandon the boat. They shelter in a ruined saloon and then settle in a shack in Shacktown.
Chapter Six
The band rehearses hard until their sound is tight. Patrick masters “The Minstrel Boy” on Damon’s whistle. They land steady saloon work, and a brawl ends with Damon stabbing a man in the eye with his whistle.
Chapter Seven
Simon conspires with the band to write a censored-proof letter from Patrick to Doris. They mail it to the Alamo garrison. Simon buys secondhand white shirts and posts handbills around town.
Chapter Eight
A majordomo hires them for a garden party at the Pryor House. Simon plays “La Savane” in G-flat major, moving a homesick kitchen girl and mesmerizing the guests. The band is paid well.
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Chapter Nine
Miss Pryor invites Simon inside and spins fantasies about a music post in St. Louis. He declines her manipulation, gives her a farewell kiss, and leaves. The band walks home along the shore.
Chapter Ten
Doris travels across Texas with the Webb family, recalling Simon at Fort Brown. In Galveston, Simon receives her reply to Patrick, full of news from Ireland. Reading it on the beach, he resolves to save money and win her.
Chapter Eleven
A land agent describes a 400-acre tract near the Red River owned by Solomon Bradford. Patrick writes again to Doris, who responds lightly. In November, yellow fever strikes Galveston, and Patrick collapses after a wedding job.
Chapter Twelve
Patrick dies of yellow fever on November 27, 1865. Simon plays “Death and the Sinner” at his burial. He writes to Doris with the news and a Houston address, and the trio takes a night train out of the city.
Chapter Thirteen
In Houston, the trio shelters in a sawmill shed and then on an abandoned flatboat. Saloons reject them for lacking “tone,” so they do dock work and fish. Doris’s letter arrives, grieving Patrick and describing her piano practice.
Chapter Fourteen
The band buys white shirts and black frock coats to look professional. Steady saloon work follows, and Simon buys a peridot ring while saving seventy-five dollars. They toast Patrick’s memory after each good night.
Chapter Fifteen
A request for “The Bonnie Blue Flag” sparks a brawl with Union soldiers. The provost marshal detains the band and intercepts a letter from Doris, which Simon claims. Doris reveals Webb has banned her mail, so she uses Mercedes as a courier.
Chapter Sixteen
A drover named Rosillo offers the band gold to play a three-day wedding in Banquete. The bride’s father is Solomon Bradford, holder of the Red River land grant. Simon accepts and writes to Doris about his plan.
Chapter Seventeen
Bradford welcomes the musicians and is spellbound by Simon’s “Shenandoah.” He agrees to sell 415 acres for two hundred dollars with a hundred-dollar down payment. After the wedding, Doroteo stays behind while Simon and Damon head northwest.
Chapter Eighteen
The pair treks through mesquite country while Damon quotes Poe. At Goliad, a teamster hands Simon a letter from Doris. He joins a freight convoy and reflects on his Kentucky childhood and his guardian, Walking David.
Chapter Nineteen
Simon stops at Mission San José to play “Neil Gow’s Lament.” In San Antonio, he rents an attic at the Plaza House and deposits money toward the land. He glimpses Doris from the street and is forced to hire a drummer named Pruitt.
Chapter Twenty
Simon meets Doris and Mercedes at the Military Plaza market. She describes Webb’s control and unwanted advances, and Simon vows to protect her. Inside San Fernando Cathedral, she outlines a plan and Simon proposes.
Chapter Twenty-one
The pair performs together at wealthy homes, playing waltzes and hornpipes. Simon learns of Lieutenant Whittaker, who is auditing Webb’s accounts. Pruitt turns up injured after an alley fight but is forced to perform.
Chapter Twenty-two
At the Duerler home, Simon shows Doris the marriage license and asks her to elope; she agrees. That night Webb drunkenly interrogates the household and accuses Doris. She escapes to her attic room to prepare.
Chapter Twenty-three
The band is invited to play a tea-dance at the Webb residence. Simon buys a surrey and prepares his pony. Webb recognizes Simon, refuses to pay, and strikes him across the face.
Chapter Twenty-four
Simon dismisses Pruitt and sleeps in the buggy. Damon reveals his past as a professor whose stepchildren were taken from him. The next night, Pruitt assaults Doris; Simon kills him with a broken bow and is arrested. The sheriff smashes his violin.
Chapter Twenty-five
A brawler named Tom Shettle beats Simon in his cell, breaking ribs and fingers. Lieutenant Whittaker transfers him to military custody and urges immediate marriage. In manacles, Simon marries Doris at the Justice of the Peace.
Chapter Twenty-six
Colonel Frelich presides over the tribunal. Whittaker argues self-defense and produces the shattered violin as proof of the sheriff’s misconduct. Simon is acquitted and keeps only the scroll as a keepsake.
Chapter Twenty-seven
Simon recovers at Mercedes’s family home while Doris tends his wounds. A doctor confirms no permanent damage. Damon’s farewell note mentions a Gaillard fiddle in Fredericksburg, and Simon places the peridot ring on Doris’s finger.
Characters in This Book
| Character | Role |
|---|---|
| Simon Boudlin | A 23-year-old fiddler from Paducah, Kentucky, who pursues land, stability, and Doris Dillon. |
| Doris Dillon | An 18-year-old Irish immigrant serving as an indentured governess to Colonel Webb’s family. |
| Damon Lessing | A former university professor and pennywhistle player who becomes Simon’s musical partner and friend. |
| Doroteo Navarro | A Tejano guitarist from the Nueces Strip who joins the band before returning home. |
| Patrick O’Hehir | A 13-year-old Union drummer boy who plays the bodhran and pennywhistle. |
| Colonel Franklin Webb | A Union officer who holds Doris under a three-year labor contract and opposes Simon. |
| Mrs. Webb | Colonel Webb’s wife, who manages the household and oversees Doris. |
| Josephina Webb | Colonel Webb’s 14-year-old daughter. |
| Mercedes Bethancourt | A Tejano maid in the Webb household who couriers Simon’s letters to Doris. |
| Solomon G. Bradford | An elderly landowner at Banquete who sells Simon 415 acres near the Red River. |
| Lieutenant Jacob Whittaker | A Union officer who investigates Webb and defends Simon at the tribunal. |
| Colonel Frelich | The judge advocate who presides over Simon’s military tribunal and acquits him. |
| Pruitt | A drummer hired in San Antonio who assaults Doris and is killed by Simon in self-defense. |
| Rosillo | A Tejano drover who hires the band for Solomon Bradford’s daughter’s wedding. |
| Walking David | Simon’s great-uncle and guardian in Paducah, Kentucky. |
| Tom Shettle | A brawler placed in Simon’s cell who beats him before the trial. |
What Drives the Story
| Theme | How the Book Presents It |
|---|---|
| Music as refuge and connection | Simon’s violin carries him through camp life, sea crossings, and saloons, and it lets him reach Doris and strangers alike. |
| Independence and land ownership | Simon saves coin by coin for acreage, treating land as the condition for marriage and a settled life. |
| Aftermath of war and displacement | Demobilized soldiers, freed slaves, immigrants, and corrupt officials populate a Texas under military occupation and martial law. |
| Immigration and belonging | Doris, Patrick, and other immigrant characters carry memories of home while building lives in unfamiliar terrain. |
| Class, exploitation, and authority | Colonel Webb’s labor contract over Doris sets military and employer power against indentured and itinerant workers. |
Who Is Simon the Fiddler For?
This novel suits readers of historical fiction set in the American South and West, especially those drawn to Reconstruction-era Texas rather than battlefield accounts.
The narrative moves through distinct regions and communities, so readers who enjoy travel-shaped plots will find a steady forward pull.
Because the story centers on a musician, readers interested in folk music, period repertoire, and the role of performance in daily life will find those elements woven throughout.
Those seeking a fast, action-driven Western may find the pacing more episodic and reflective.
Readers who prefer romance grounded in circumstance, with obstacles that come from contracts, distance, and law rather than misunderstandings, may find the Simon-and-Doris thread central to the experience.
Books Like Simon the Fiddler
News of the World by Paulette Jiles — Also set in post-Civil War Texas, it follows a journey across the frontier and shares the author’s spare, lyrical style.
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier — A Confederate soldier’s walk home through a ruined South, rich in period detail and folk culture.
The Son by Philipp Meyer — A multi-generational Texas saga tracing land, violence, and the transformation of the frontier.
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry — Reconstruction-era Texas, a long journey, and themes of camaraderie and frontier justice.
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt — A picaresque frontier journey with distinct voices and a wandering, saloon-to-saloon structure.
Book Snapshot
- Genre & Subgenre: Historical Fiction / Western Historical Romance
- Core Narrative Tropes: Star-crossed lovers, reluctant soldier, found family, quest for land, virtuoso musician
- Tone & Atmosphere: Lyrical, atmospheric, gritty, bittersweet
- Primary Conflict: Simon’s effort to earn money, buy land, and free Doris from an indentured contract and an abusive employer
- Pacing Style: Episodic journey structure across Texas regions
- ISBN: 978-0062966759
- Pages: 368
- Book Structure: 27 chapters, chronological, no part divisions
- Author Background: Paulette Jiles is an American-Canadian author and poet known for historical fiction set in the American West and South, including News of the World.
Quotes from Simon the Fiddler
“In an unseasonably hot October he had been engaged to play at a barbecue near Marshall in East Texas, in plantation country.”
“Whatever Simon determined on, he would not quit until he had it or was dead or incapacitated.”
“Strange how a musical instrument in your hand made you the innocent of the world.”
“To Simon, the world of musical structures was far more real than the shoddy saloons in which he had to play.”
“He means us to be happy and to sing and He gave us each musical note that lives in all the songs struck clean in our hearts.”
“Listen, Simon, they wouldn’t hang a fiddler. They’d hang a carpenter, a blacksmith, a gambler, or a horse thief but nobody would ever hang a fiddler.”
Paulette Jiles: A Voice of the American Frontier
Paulette Jiles is an American-Canadian author and poet whose work often centers on the American West and South in the nineteenth century.
Before turning to fiction, she published several poetry collections, and her prose reflects that background in its attention to landscape and sound.
She is best known for News of the World, a National Book Award finalist that shares the post-Civil War Texas setting of Simon the Fiddler.
Her other novels include Enemy Women, The Color of Lightning, and The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter.
