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Summary: MAKES US PROUD TO BE FROM MISSOURI!
Review: Ms. Jiles is such an exceptional author! The historical letters at the beginning of the chapters and the authentic backgrounds of her characters were unique and informative, especially when you discover she gathered them from her own family history! But, by far, the best thing about her book is the wonderful romance between Adair and Neumann. It's not sappy or frilly, but earthy and real. You can feel the cold, sickly despair of Adair's prison walls and smell the cigar smoke and cologne of the major's office. What a wonderful movie this would make! We are in an era of patriotism and flag-waving and Ms. Jiles' book makes us proud to be Americans and, in my case, proud to be from Missouri!
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Summary: enemy women
Review: Enemy Women has the broad sweep of an epic and the intimacy of a character study. With the American civil war as a backdrop, the author was able to take me to a region of the U.S. that has received very little attention by civil war historians. It is clear from the vivid and colorful descriptions of Southern Missouri and environs that the author has a deep affection for and understanding of the Missouri Hill Country and its people. Paulette Jiles has made an important contribution to American literature. I hope the nation hears a lot more from her.
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Summary: Good story, great writing
Review: Here is an indication of how much I liked Enemy Women: after I finished reading it last spring, I immediately picked it up and read it again. I've never done this with a book before in my life.There are a lot of reasons to like Enemy Women. It is gorgeously written--the author's description and choice of words are at once stunning but also very natural. It's as though Ms. Jiles was in the scene herself, observing all that was happening but discerning the best and most telling aspects of the scene to record. The characters are extremely compelling, especially, of course, Adair Colley and Major Neuman. Ms. Jiles gives us just enough insight into their minds to endear them to us and make us appreciate them, but also keeps us guessing as to what they will do next. I was impressed by the book's historical detail and accuracy. One can only imagine how much research went into crafting scenes including prisons and city life from Civil War-era Missouri. More difficult to re-create, perhaps, are Ms. Jiles' descriptions of every day activities from this period, from finding food in hard times to curing a cough. Also, Ms. Jiles introduces each chapter with an exerpt or two from an original source, which reminds the reader that Enemy Women isn't just a story, but is based on real events that affected real people just as the book's characters were affected by those events. I strongly recommend Enemy Women. True, it may take you a few pages to adapt to Ms. Jiles' unique writing style, which excludes quotation marks and includes a few run-on sentences. Yet I came to enjoy both the writing and the story, not to mention the history lesson.
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Summary: Insomniac Special
Review: About three-fourths of the way through Enemy Women, the heroine Adair tells trivial, tedious stories to Lisa and Rosalie, who have taken her into their home. Adair wants them to fall asleep so she can decamp with Whiskey, her horse who was stolen and is now in the possession of these two women. This episode could serve as a metaphor for the entire novel, most of which is intolerably boring. The author tries to keep us awake with the clever literary device of dispensing with quotation marks, perhaps in hopes we will remain alert so as to identify what is dialogue and what isn't. But cheap tricks with punctuation are no substitute for a good tale well told. It does appear the author has done some admirable historical research for Enemy Women, though I must take that on faith. All in all, I wish I had used my time to re-read Gone With the Wind.
Rating: 
Summary: Slow but it picks up
Review: I am interested in the Civil War period so thought I would take a chance and buy this book. It took me several chapters before I could really get into it. Once past the slow chapters (1/3 through the book) it did keep my attention. The lack of quotation marks make it difficult to read. I wouldn't recommend reading it for the history. It is more of a love story although some history is thrown in. It just wasn't a book that I would recommend to my friends.
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Summary: HIGHLY LISTENABLE
Review: Cruel may well be a euphemism for the atrocities suffered during the American Civil War, yet there was also great courage and strength. With deft narrative skills and the story of one young woman, Paulette Jiles has created an unforgettable portrait of a nation riven by mortal strife. Gifted voice performer Karen Wilson gives vibrant narrative voice to the heroine of this compelling drama, Adair Colley. In 1864, the third year of the war, Adair lives with her family on a farm in the Missouri Ozarks. It is Confederate territory but the Colleys remain neutral. Adair has just turned eighteen when the Union Militia gallops onto their property, attempts to burn the house, and strikes her widowed father in the face with a wagon spoke before arresting him. To punctuate their visit the Militia "shot the dogs and took as many chickens and geese and pigs as they could catch." John, the only Colley son, seeks shelter in nearby hills. While Adair, believing there might be safety to the north, takes her two younger sisters and begins the 120 mile trek to Iron Mountain. They join "the streams of refugees afoot as if they were white trash." Any hope of finding a haven is destroyed when one among the walkers falsely accuses Adair of collaborating with the enemy, and she is taken from her terrified sisters to a women's prison in St. Louis. Filthy, rank, and cold, the prison is "like the Female Seminary of the netherworld. A ladies' academy in hell." Nonetheless, it is here that she meets her Union interrogator, Major William Neumann. They fall in love. When Adair refuses to sign a confession in order to obtain her freedom, Neumann helps her escape with the promise that he will find her after the war. However, there are still countless dangers to be faced as Neumann is sent to the Alabama front lines, and Adair braves a perilous solitary trek through uncharted wilderness and enemy territory to find what might be left of her home and family. Debilitated by her prison stay and a chronic cough which a "steam doctor" diagnoses as consumption she presses on, sometimes forced to steal for food and clothing. Adair is the embodiment of an innocent victimized by war as well as a reminder of the tensile strength humans summon when there is an intense desire to survive. - Gail Cooke
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Summary: Texas Librarian
Review: I have a 30 minute commute to and from work so I listen to many books on tape. The readers of audio books make all the difference in the world as to how a listener responds, and this reader definitely could use some more lessons on reading audio books. I found her reading to be boring and tedious, with too little expression or variation in voice or tone. I have trudged through 4 of the tapes and will not finish the audio book.
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Summary: Powerful and Memorable
Review: The novel "Enemy Women" by Paulette Jiles is a powerful, memorable and well written piece of historical fiction. This story tells how women, suffering through the Civil War, are torn from their families and dragged from their homes. The Yankees are portrayed as destroyers of Southern womanhood. The historical quotes at chapter beginnings recall specific atrocities suffered by people during the war. We read about tales of misery - glimpses into the wreckage and despair in peoples lives. The use of these facts, followed by the fictional character's story, work well together for the reader. We are given glimpses of horrors and injustices, followed by the more detailed journey of Adair Randolph Colley from southeastern Missouri. Despite her family's neutrality, Adair's father has been beaten and dragged away. As Adair searches for him, she is denounced by fellow travelers. Charged under martial law as an enemy collaborator, she is urged to prove her loyalty by revealing something about confederate operations. Meanwhile, jail is like "a ladies' academy in hell". Ms. Jiles has created a unique yet believable character in Adair Colley. Adair is strong willed, with a wonderful imagination. She is impudent and insolent to her interrogator, challenging his authority. She is sarcastic, witty and spirited. Most of all Adair Colley is brave and determined. Necessary character traits to survive this time of conflict. I take one point off this book for lack of quotation marks throughout the story. I found their absence distracting, making the reading slow and sometimes confusing. However, on second reading of the book, this is barely noticeable. The reader should just be prepared. That said, Ms. Jiles writes with the phrasing of a poet. For example: sentences like "Crows scattered among the treetops like black quarter notes" create vivid, lasting images for the reader. Within the cold prison walls Adair and her interrogator fall in love, and Ms. Jiles writes about a love that is poignant, pure, and sacrificial. Before the Major returns to a fighting unit, he gives Adair her freedom. Over the wall, into the streets of St. Louis. Through dark alleys, into the countryside. And we hurry alongside Adair, watching the landscape nervously, the Major's words echoing in our ears: "Just go home. I'll find you".
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Summary: Learned some history, but the story line was bland
Review: I read this as a member of a book club and probably would not have finished it but for that reason. I found the historical excerpts at the beginning of each chapter interesting, but they seldom related to the storyline. The lack of quotation marks was maddening - was she just thinking that or did she really say it?!? The descriptions of the wildlife and natural setttings were very poetic, but the character development seemed lacking. I enjoyed Cold Mountain more than this book.
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Summary: Slogging through Wartime in Missouri
Review: Excellent book if you are a fan of historical books, especially if you are interested in the Missouri Ozarks during the Civil War. Since I only read this book as a member of a book club which selected it, I wasn't that fond of it, nor would I have hung in there long enough to finish the read. The story line was difficult to get into. Her lack of quotation marks slowed down my reading. I found the use of language of those times in the Ozarks sometimes difficult to figure out the underlying meaning, felt like I was plodding through words. Since Jiles is a poet, maybe she thinks vague is good. I was never intrigued by the main character, Adair, although she had lots of spunk. In many ways she was smart-alecky and self-centered. The historical quotations at the beginning of each chapter confused me - I kept reading them, thinking they pertained to what was going to happen in that chapter, and be meaningful, but that seldom occurred. Mostly they showed the brutality that had been handed out to everybody, soldiers and civilians alike. The mention of what happened to those who had to have a limb amputated seemed to be the only one that fit the story of that chapter. The Major in the Union Army who fell for her, and her for him, had very little characterization. Those who called him two-dimensional hit it on the head. Her detailed descriptions of EVERYTHING became tiring. It seemed impossible that Adair could have found not only her own horse, but her sister's horse. I liked her ingenuity in tricking the man who was attempting to capture her into a deer trap! The ending was a slap in the face. We readers who lasted that long deserved more than a glance from the Major to Adair, and a look of recognition from her to him. There was no warmth, although apparently some joy to find each other again. How insulting of the author to just stop writing.
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