Under the Bayou Moon
A Novel
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4.5 • 21 Ratings
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Restless with the familiarity of her Alabama home, Ellie Fields accepts a teaching job in a tiny Louisiana town deep in bayou country. Though rightfully suspicious of outsiders, who have threatened both their language and their culture, most of the people in tiny Bernadette, Louisiana, come to appreciate the young and idealistic schoolteacher as a boon to the town. She's soon teaching just about everyone--and coming up against opposition from both the school board and a politician with ulterior motives.
Acclimating to a whole new world, Ellie meets a lonely but intriguing Cajun fisherman named Raphe who introduces her to the legendary white alligator that haunts these waters. Raphe and Ellie have barely found their way to each other when a huge bounty is offered for the elusive gator, bringing about a shocking turn of events that will test their love and their will to right a terrible wrong.
A master of the Southern novel, Valerie Fraser Luesse invites you to enter the sultry swamps of Louisiana in a story that illuminates the struggle for the heart and soul of the bayou.
Customer Reviews
EVOCATIVE!
Valerie Fraser Luesse has written an evocative story set in the sultry swamps of Louisiana in the late 1940s-early 1950s. She introduces the world to a young teacher, Ellie Fields. Ellie has left the confines of the life she knows so well in small town Alabama and accepted the challenge of a teaching job in tiny Louisiana town deep in the bayou country. Tiny Bernadette, LA is filled with many sets of challenges for the idealistic schoolteacher. Yet, Ellie feels an immediate love for these people and one man in particular wins her heart. Cajun fisherman Rafe marries Ellie and they create a safe haven for the nephew that Rafe is adopting. In an area well known for not accepting outsiders, this mix of many different types of people have come together in one accord to accept the new school teacher. Why? Because she LOVES their children with everything in her being and loves each one of them the same amount as the others! She has even come up with a way to teach the African American children as well as the illiterate adults. She knows they are a proud people but some of them never had the opportunity to go to school. When the area is shaken by the largest crisis they have ever had to face, it is rewarding to see neighbors helping neighbors, friends helping friends and even strangers helping others! When push comes to shove, Luesse paints a beautiful word picture of what the Good Samaritan as well as true resiliency look like. I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by Revell & NetGalley. The opinions expressed here are completely my own and without influence.