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Under the Bayou Moon
Under the Bayou Moon: A Novel | Valerie Fraser Luesse
7 posts | 8 read | 8 to read
Restless with the familiarity of her Alabama home, Ellie Fields accepts a teaching job in a tiny Louisiana town deep in bayou country. Though rightfully suspicious of outsiders, who have threatened both their language and their culture, most of the people in tiny Bernadette, Louisiana, come to appreciate the young and idealistic schoolteacher as a boon to the town. She's soon teaching just about everyone--and coming up against opposition from both the school board and a politician with ulterior motives. Acclimating to a whole new world, Ellie meets a lonely but intriguing Cajun fisherman named Raphe who introduces her to the legendary white alligator that haunts these waters. Raphe and Ellie have barely found their way to each other when a huge bounty is offered for the elusive gator, bringing about a shocking turn of events that will test their love and their will to right a terrible wrong. A master of the Southern novel, Valerie Fraser Luesse invites you to enter the sultry swamps of Louisiana in a story that illuminates the struggle for the heart and soul of the bayou.
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KathyWheeler
Under the Bayou Moon: A Novel | Valerie Fraser Luesse
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Pickpick

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.

Sparklemn So now I have to ask...what is the correct way to pronounce New Orleans? I've heard it so many ways! 2y
KathyWheeler @Sparklemn Most people I know don‘t use the long e for New Orleans — it‘s more New Orlinz. To me, that‘s the proper way to say it. 2y
Sparklemn @KathyWheeler I like that better, too. 2y
25 likes3 comments
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KathyWheeler
Under the Bayou Moon: A Novel | Valerie Fraser Luesse
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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

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Kshakal
Under the Bayou Moon: A Novel | Valerie Fraser Luesse
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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!

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MaggieCarr
Under the Bayou Moon: A Novel | Valerie Fraser Luesse
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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.

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McCombsonMain
Under the Bayou Moon: A Novel | Valerie Fraser Luesse
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EadieB
Under the Bayou Moon: A Novel | Valerie Fraser Luesse
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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.

EadieB A huge bounty is offered for a white gator bringing about a shocking turn of events. In 2019 my husband and I took the train from Philadelphia to New Orleans and this book brought back the memories of that trip. Ellie goes to New Orleans and stays at the Monteleone Hotel where we stayed. She goes to Bourbon Street and the French Quarter and I could picture everything she saw. 3y
EadieB Valerie captures southern bayou living and the atmosphere of Spanish moss on the cypress trees makes you feel like you are right there. This is a story you will remember forever as it reaches down and touches your soul. I'm looking forward to reading other books by Valerie soon. Thanks to Revell Publishers and LibraryThing for a free copy for an honest review. 3y
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 3y
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robinb
Under the Bayou Moon: A Novel | Valerie Fraser Luesse
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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 🔻

robinb falls deeply in love with the physical as well as the cultural beauty of the waterways. The descriptions of the area were so vivid that I fell in love as well. The bad guys are a greedy, corrupt and bigoted senator as well as his henchmen, but it‘s the sweet, caring and generous Cajun community that are the stars here. And I loved the epilogue of future glimpses of these characters…something that the reader doesn‘t often get. Great story! 4.25/5⭐️ 3y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Sounds good ❤️ 3y
robinb @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Really enjoyed it! 3y
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