From Publishers Weekly
Much feted for his debut collection of stories, The Torturer's Apprentice, Biguenet follows up with a steamy first novel set on the Louisiana coast. The Petitjeans and the Bruneaus are rival oyster fishing families in Plaquemines Parish in 1957, struggling to survive in an environment rapidly falling prey to petroleum companies and their ravaging of swamp and bayou ecosystems. As it gets more difficult to hang on economically, old families begin to slip. The Petitjean family, headed by Felix, has reluctantly turned to "Horse" Bruneau for a loan. Desperate for cash, Felix and his wife, Mathilde, approve Horse's plan to marry their daughter, Therese. Therese scotches that plan by luring Horse to the Petitjean property for a supposed midnight tryst, then murdering him. When Horse's body turns up in a trawler's net, his sons Darryl ("Little Horse") and Ross (with their gentler brother, Rusty, looking on in horror) murder Therese's brother, Alton, who they blame for Horse's murder since nobody even considers that a slip of a girl like Therese could kill the powerful Horse. Darryl has always hated Alton, anyway, suspecting (rightly, as it turns out) that Alton is his half brother the fruit of an affair between Mathilde and Horse. After the murder, Sheriff Christovich, an old beau of Mathilde's, manipulates Darryl into letting Rusty work for the Petitjeans, hoping Rusty will talk. But it is Therese who exacts vengeance on the Bruneau house with the implacability of a Plaquemines Lady Macbeth. While Biguenet makes the Bruneaus, except for Rusty, a bit too villainous and Therese a bit too clever for plausibility's sake, his debut satisfyingly penetrates the curtain of gumbo clich surrounding Cajun culture. (June) Forecast: Booksellers may expect to build handily on the success of The Torturer's Apprentice with this juicy follow-up and should certainly capitalize on the novel's regional appeal.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Biguenet's gripping debut novel, set in Louisiana in 1957, opens with a set of shocking murders. The Petitjeans and the Bruneaus have always been at odds, competitors in the cutthroat oyster trade. To stay in business, Felix Petitjean has borrowed money from Horse Bruneau, putting both his house and his boat on the line. When Felix is unable to pay back his debt, Horse suggests an alternative: that Felix give Horse his daughter, Therese, in marriage. But Therese is no shrinking violet, willing to be bartered for the survival of her family's business--rather, she has other plans for its survival. Therese's shocking actions and the events that follow will surprise and unsettle the reader. In Therese, Biguenet has created a complex, calculating, passionate woman who is willing to do whatever it takes to control both her own destiny and that of her family. The Bruneaus don't stand a chance against this extraordinary individual--despite many twists and turns, Therese always is able to maintain control. Biguenet's first novel is an unforgettable look at the effects of generations of bad blood between two families.
Kristine HuntleyCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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