Book Review - Under the Bayou Moon by Valerie Fraser Luesse

 

Ellie Fields wants more out of life than what her Alabama home is willing to offer. She decides to accept a teaching job in a tiny town of Bernadette, Louisiana deep in bayou country.  The inhabitants are suspicious of outsiders because their language and culture are being threatened. However, Ellie ends up teaching the people and help them feel appreciated. She struggles to deal with opposition from the school board and the politician with ulterior motives while keeping the trust of the bayou people.

As Ellie learns to live in the bayou country, she crosses path with a lonely Cajun fisherman, Raphe, who she finds intriguing. He introduces her into the rich tapestry of Cajun culture including, showing her the legendary white alligator. As Raphe and Ellie begin to trust each other, their is a huge bounty being offered for the elusive gator that will test their love for each other.

I enjoyed reading this book and found Ellie to be a delightful character. I thought the scenes with the trio (Ellie, Raphe, and Heywood) to be my favorite. I appreciated and loved the rich details that the author gave but, felt like some of the story line lacked depth. For example, a character goes missing and we are lead to believe that he might be doing something but, then we find out what happened to him in passing.  I wonder if its because the author had too many plot lines and she wasn't sure how to tie them all in together as some plot lines were solved "off screen" with a few sentence to wrap it up. Overall,  it was a great book and I look forward to reading more by the author.