"Elegiac in tone, the novel is ful of fierce, austere poetry, as well as hyms to the Texas landscape." - New York Times Book Review "[A] meticulously researched and beautifully crafted story . this is glorious work." - Washington Post on THE COLOR OF LIGHTNING "Jiles's spare and melancholy prose is the perfect language for this tale in which survival necessitates brutality. She is also an equal-opportunity storyteller, describing events from the point of view of settlers and Native Americans. Her descriptions of life in the Native-American camps are some of the most compelling sections of the book." - Seattle Times on THE COLOR OF LIGHTNING "Jiles' spare and melancholy prose is the perfect language for this tale in which survival necessitates brutality." - Seattle Times on THE COLOR OF LIGHTNING "Jiles colors.

historical facts in prose that captures the imagination, allowing her audience to understand the diverse cultures struggling to coexist in this seemingly harsh land." - Historical Novels Review "Historical novels are by nature elegies. This is especially true of novels of the Old West, and never more so than in the form Cormac McCarthy has refined--call it the Poet's Western. Paulette Jiles, an accomplished poet as well as a novelist, lodges The Color of Lightning deep within this genre, packing her prose with inventive metaphor, luxuriant detail, and flights of fierce, austere poetry, as well as hymns to the Texas landscape. [Jiles's] roving omniscience gives the novel the breadth and busyness of a Diego Rivera mural . a gripping, deeply relevant book." - New York Times Book Review on THE COLOR OF LIGHTNING "A gripping, deeply relevant book." - New York Times Book Review on THE COLOR OF LIGHTNING "Paulette Jiles has created a potent, harrowing story about real people with that genuine heroism that makes legendry pale by comparison.

Jiles writes with an unerring poet's touch." - Dallas Morning News on THE COLOR OF LIGHTNING "Jiles never reduces her cast of characters to stock stereotypes, tackling a traumatic and tragic episode in American history with sensitivity and assurance." - Booklist on THE COLOR OF LIGHTNING "Jiles is an ardent student of history, and through extensive research is able to reimagine life in post-Civil War Texas and create believable, multi-layered characters with remarkable verisimilitude." - San Antonio Express-News "A remarkably engaging story. Jiles's description is memorable and evocative." - Denver Post on THE COLOR OF LIGHTNING "Stick a thumb into any page of Paulette Jiles's The Color of Lightning and you'll pull out a fine prose plum." - Texas Monthly on THE COLOR OF LIGHTNING "A rousing, character-driven tale." - Kirkus Reviews on THE COLOR OF LIGHTNING.