Welcome to Litsy!

I really liked this book. The characters are likeable, except, of course, for the villains. Luesse does a good job of evoking the atmosphere of the bayou. The narrator is also good, except for her mispronunciation of Biloxi; although she pronounces New Orleans correctly, so I can forgive that. The ending, while improbable, was satisfying. #audiowalk Magpie Murders is next up for my walking book.

So far I‘m really liking this, but I‘ll admit to a fondness for Louisiana. I was an army brat and my husband and I also moved a lot. The 5 years we lived in Louisiana was the only time I ever felt I was at home. I like the characters in this book as well as the setting and story. It‘s set in a time when the state government had made it illegal to speak French in the schools, hurting Cajun children. #audiowalk

A wonderful story about the bayou and the people that live there… so beautifully written it draws you in and doesn‘t let you go! This is a story that will stay with me for some time to come!

I have never experienced Alabama or Louisiana outside of freeway driving, the setting in this books makes me want to change that. I did get a good chuckle out of a simple reference to feeling husbands to alligators because that happened in another book I read earlier this year. Anyway, this one was great- diverse characters, perfect pacing, witty banter dialog and the eagerness for learning with what you have available.

See cajun country through the eyes of a newcomer...

5/5

https://mccombsonmain.com/2021/08/19/review-bayou-moon-luesse/

#southernfiction #fivestarread #historicalfiction

1949. Ellie Fields accepts a teaching job in a tiny Louisiana town deep in bayou country and leaves her home in Alabama. The people in Bernadette, Louisiana, come to appreciate the young and idealistic schoolteacher. She's soon teaching just about everyone and coming up against opposition from both the school board and a politician with ulterior motives. Ellie meets a Cajun fisherman named Raphe who introduces her to the legendary white alligator.

I had read one other book by this author and enjoyed it. So glad I read this one as well, set in the 1949 bayous of the Atchafalaya River. Ellie Fields, a young school teacher from a tiny town in Alabama who yearns to make a difference, arrives to teach in a tiny Cajun community. We follow her as she encounters prejudice toward these French-speaking natives, meets an amazing community of open-hearted folks (including the love of her life) and 🔻