Under the Bayou Moon

 

     BOOK REVIEW:   When Ellie Fields accepts a teaching job in a tiny Louisiana town deep in bayou country in 1949, she knows her life will change--but she could never imagine just how dramatically. 

     Though rightfully suspicious of outsiders, who have threatened both their language and their unique culture, most of the residents come to appreciate the young and idealistic school teacher, and she's soon teaching just about everyone, despite opposition from both the school board and a politician with ulterior motives. Yet it's the lessons Ellie herself will learn--from new friends, a captivating Cajun fisherman, and even a legendary white alligator haunting the bayou--that will make all the difference. 

  

     MY REVIEW:   I have thoroughly enjoyed each of Valerie Fraser Luesse's books (this is her fourth), and I think this is one of her best. She did an amazing job of setting the scene in the lovely moss-covered bayou town deep in Louisiana. The place sounds utterly breathtaking! A review from the back cover says there is "atmosphere dripping from every page like moss on a cypress tree." And her characters have the same feel to them as the atmosphere. They feel very real and relatable, with so much more to them than what may meet the eye. The town cares deeply for each other--Acadian, Indian, and white alike. 

     Ellie has accepted a teaching position in this tiny town in hopes of finding her place, where she can be free of other's expectations and society's pull. She falls in love with the town instantly, and finds the freedom to pursue her desire to help others. Her heart for the children is tremendous. The story also follows Heywood, an aspiring photographer who is constantly on the move. His restlessness does well to show Ellie's contentedness. I liked that both personalities were portrayed as a good thing. It is certainly a story of finding one's place in life, and accepting it. One character was asked if he was happy here, and he replied "Not happy, but I'm home." When you read the book you'll see how well that describes the tone of the story. Each person has suffered loss, yet they are finding peace in the place they are set. Still feeling a loss, but being comforted by their little part of the world that touches them. I think a beautifully gloomy bayou is the perfect setting for such characters. 

     This book is beautifully written, and while I might not classify it as particularly Christian, there is quite a bit that can be taken from it. I quite enjoyed it. 

I received a copy of this book from REVELL and was not required to write a positive review. 

     

The Nature of Small Birds

      BOOK REVIEW:   In 1975, three thousand children were airlifted out of Saigon to be adopted into Western homes. When one of those children announces her plans to return to Vietnam to find her birth mother, her loving adopted family is suddenly thrown back to the events surrounding her unconventional arrival in their lives. 

     Mindy's father grapples with the tension between holding on too tightly and letting his daughter spread her wings. Her mother undergoes the emotional roller coaster inherent in the adoption of a child from a war-torn country, discovering the joy hidden amid the difficulties. And Mindy and her sister struggle to find the strength to accept each other as they both discover who they truly are. 

     Told through three distinct voices in three compelling timelines, The Nature of Small Birds is a hopeful story that explores the meaning of family far beyond genetic code. 

     MY REVIEW:   This story is about Mindy Matthews, who came to America from Vietnam in the Babylift operation when she was 4 years old. The book is written from three different points in her life, and none of them are from her perspective. 1975 is read from her mother's eye when she joins the family. 1988 centers on her sister Sonny while they're in high school. And 2013 is set on her father, and read as current day, with Mindy being 42 years old. It is an interesting way to tell a story about a person without having that person be the main character. I think I would have preferred if there was less jumping between the years, or if the chapters had been longer. It was  little difficult to get accustomed to the characters with short bursts of time. But it did keep the story moving. I wish there had been more about Mindy's life when she was first adopted, or even more about searching for her Vietnamese family. In the current setting, she is newly divorced (which was pretty disappointing to find in a Christian book), and this seems like a distraction from that.  Her family is having a harder time being ok with it than they thought they would. This book has a theme of letting go, but also of letting in. Mindy was accepted as an adopted daughter, and now she is encouraged to pursue her birth family. There are a few other instances of people letting others in or letting them go, and some that don't learn. 

     My favorite parts of the story are when Mindy was 4 and learning English, the eccentric lady the girls worked for in high school, and Mindy's grandfather as he sneaks sugar past his domineering wife who insists that coffee must be drunk black or not at all. I would say that there was less of God's involvement in their lives than I wished; it didn't seem like they turned to Him much for guidance in their lives, even really in the big things they faced.  

I received a copy of this book from REVELL and was not required to write a positive review.