The Cajuns: A Novel

Ruth Ann Daigle comes back home to Richelieu, Louisiana in 1956 to care for her dying father, who is owner of the local paper. She had been working as a reporter in New Orleans, so she knows her way around a newspaper. She knows her way around a story too and she sees one in Richelieu in the supposed accidental death of a local teenager. However she upsets her fellow townfolk when she investigates. At first the town Sheriff resents Ruth Ann's interference and continual questioning, but she gradually wins him over, in spite of the fact that his State-Senator, powerbroker, father-in-law wants to let this sleeping dog lie. This is a story filled with characters that are funny, tragic, different and totally interesting. Graft is the order of the day in Richelieu, in fact it seems the more a politician steals, the more his is admired, well, of course, until he steals too much. Gue Weill has painted a picture of a time and place so well that the people seem to walk off the pages and right into your heart. By the time you finish this story you will not only have read a delicious mystery, but you'll feel like you are a card carrying Cajun girl, or boy. The Gumbo just drips off the pages.

I liked this book but I just have to "vent" a little about how the author writes about sex. Even though the sex scenes are pretty good and realistic to a point, Weill refers to the main character's "sex" as in she "touched his sex." Now everyone reading this book knows that the term "sex" is never used by a real man to describe his genitals. Even children now are taught the proper term. I am old enough to know that a grown man has never thought of his body in this way. Later in the book Weill uses an explicit word for the male genitals as part of a character's dialogue. Why then would he use the silly term "his sex" in the book? Surely a man born in 1933 knows better than this.

Gus Weill perfectly captures the Cajun culture, rich as a delicious gumbo, the musical patois, and the extraordinarily eccentric characters of Louisiana's backwater Richelieu Parish in 1956, where rampant political corruption and petty theft is a way of life. This is a town where the locals look-up to those who cheat successfully. Author Weill examines the resemblance of this tiny town to a large dysfunctional family, which somehow manages to get through life's tribulations with a little help from each other - in spite of themselves. State Senator Papoot Gaspard, a local, has become a legend in his own time. He could have invented the concept of graft. His daughter Bebe, once beautiful, now obese, is a simple, loving woman married to town sheriff, Bobby Boudreaux. She eats uncontrollably to calm her libido. Bobby doesn't get turned-on by fat women. In a town of devout Catholics, Papoot's son, Father Justin, is the most righteous. Mayor Big Head Arceneaux; wealthy Big Shot Fontenot and his father, Li'l Shot; powerful lawyer Hurphy Perrault who has a club foot which no one notices because he is so rich; Bad A-s (sorry censorship rules!) Thibodeaux, the town drunk; Catfish Francois, cook extraordinaire; Possum Aucoin, the town barber who presides over all important parish business; One Lung Savoy, poolroom doyen; gas station owner President Prejean, (yes his 1st name is President), a man with definite political ambition; Misty, the local Madame and her business partner, Ballou Sinistere; local DJ NaNa Duhon and his ever present papoon, Lucky, also populate the novel. "The Cajuns" is worth reading just to bone up on the antics of these characters. "The Cajuns" is more than a character and cultural study of life in rural Louisiana, mid-20th century, however. With all its humor and satire, this is a mystery and a poignant, moving drama. Former resident and New Orleans newspaper reporter Ruth Ann Daigle comes home to Richelieu to care for her dying father, owner of the local paper. She is super smart, sexy and sophisticated - so she sure stands out in Richelieu. Ruth Ann has never been one to mind her own business, which is why she excels as a reporter. She manages to vex her fellow citizens, soon after her arrival, by persistently inquiring into the supposedly accidental death of a local teen. Sheriff Boudreaux, who could be called the town's conscience, is at first resentful of Ruth Ann's continuous questioning. Then he becomes interested in joining her, in spite of his fear of alienating his powerbroker father-in-law. Long repressed feelings and urges ignite between the two as their investigation progresses. Although the novel's pace plods at times, especially in the beginning, the characters are fascinating, funny and occasionally tragic. The mystery and conflicts are quite timely and relevant, over fifty years after the action takes place. I am glad I stuck with the book. It is worth it. Recommended! JANA

In 1956 Richelieu, Louisiana the local Cajuns love eating gumbo and gossiping about sexual scandals, political corruption and kickbacks. In fact most residents are proud of those who get away with cheating, which has made State Senator Papoot Gaspard a graft legend. Everyone in town knows that if it ain't broke leave it alone; graft is a way of life and not considered broken so keep the chats away from outsiders or become alligator bait. Former resident New Orleans reporter Ruth Ann Daigle comes home to care for her dying father, the owner of the Richelieu newspaper. Investigating is in her genes and so she breaks the golden rule of minding ones business and makes inquiries into the death of tenant farmer Ti Boy, who killed himself while cleaning his gun. Although Sheriff Bobby Boudreaux as Papoot's son-in-law knows how he got the job and not to alienate the hand that feeds him, he considers joining Ruth Ann on her investigation partially because he finds her beautiful and intelligent while his spouse is an obese queen. This historical mystery provides a powerful look at 1950s Bayou country with a host of local eccentric characters who turn from benign to deadly as the investigation begins to close in on what happened, something the leaders want buried. The story line is at its strongest as a period piece than as a crime thriller that loses some momentum with a second suicide. Still a pinch of voodoo mixed in with an interesting glimpse of the past starring solid casting leads to a fine tale though the uncovering of the truth seems anti-climatic just prior to the Billy Cannon era. Harriet Klausner