Bayou Fire

HISTORICAL:  Travel writer Diana Corbett arrives in New Orleans to chronicle its many attractions and dig deeper into its bustling lifestyle.  When she meets Amos, part-time lawyer, full-time owner of Bayou Café, they instantly feel an eerie connection. As Amos shows Diana the sights, the eerie feeling only grows with their attraction.  When Diana passes out and begins talking in her sleep, Amos’ psychic aunt understands the connection, which goes back generations.  Amos was Alcide, scion of a wealthy planter family in the early 1800’s, who runs north to avoid entering the priesthood. After adventures on the Mississippi and in Chicago, where he becomes a lawyer, Alcide returns to New Orleans to take over the reins of the plantation. Upon his return he meets Evangeline, who is the only woman who interests Alcide.

For lovers of the south, this vivid, atmospheric peek into the beating heart of New Orleans is a winner.  For lovers of the antebellum south, this well-researched tale will grip the imagination.  “Bayou Fire” accomplishes the difficult task of telling two engaging stories and making the reader care equally about all the characters, contemporary and historical.  Amos/Alcide is an attractive, lusty character who manages to be both bad-boy hunk and sensitive reformer, while Diana/Evangeline, though slightly less well-paired, is complex and likeable. Feisty Evangeline is particularly appealing as she awakens into independent womanhood.  The one slight flaw is that the contemporary plot isn’t as complex or gripping as the historical.  Diana and Amos get a bit short-changed.  "Bayou Fire" is two complex, delightful tales woven into one!

Marc Joseph