The Son by Philipp Meyer

A family epic focusing on 3 generations of the McCullough family in Texas from the 1830's to the present. It is the story of Eli who was captured by the Comanches who brutally murder his family. He lives with them for several years, returning to his roots when the tribe dies out. It is the story of his son, Peter, who suffers moral dilemmas over the murdering of Mexicans by his family. It is the story of Jean Ann, Eli's great granddaughter, who struggles to carry on the family traditions in a man's world.

The book begins with Jeanne Ann at age 86 lying injured on the floor of her home with her life passing before her eyes. From there the story switches back and forth in time and among the 3 main characters. As a result it was sometimes difficult to follow. I often had to go back and double check who was being written about and what year it was. At least there was a family tree printed in the beginning.

There is a lot of fairly graphic violence in the book, but it didn't seem gratuitous. The author was pretty good at presenting the points of view of not just the whites, but of the native Americans and the Mexicans as well. They all seemed equally good/bad. One group would conquer another, and then be conquered themselves.

I didn't find the main characters to be too sympathetic, but at least Peter seemed to have some crises of conscience from time to time.

The book is long, but it was well written enough that I hung in there with it if for no other reason than to find out how it ended.