Sharon Lacour

Broschiertes Buch

The Meeting of Air and Water

Beschreibung

Three love stories are entwined in this poignant and dramatic debut novel, The Meeting of Air and Water. In 1923, Dolores, a sensitive young girl in a small coastal Louisiana town receives the gift of a camera which offers her a window into an otherwise frightening world. The haunting, mythical culture of the Acadians feeds her imagination as her talent for the art of photography develops. A romance begins in childhood with Earl, her loyal champion, and they move to the volatile city of New Orleans where she continues to pursue her artistic path despite the societal and cultural conventions that discourage it. Over fifty years later, Dolores' granddaughter, Elaine, reeling from a divorce and struggling to find her own artistic calling, returns to New Orleans to care for her grandfather Earl, now a feisty octogenarian, who lives in Little Woods, a community of fishing camps on Lake Pontchartrain. Elaine is pursued by two former lovers, one an abusive, alcoholic city prosecutor, the other a handsome Cajun fisherman-opposites who appeal to different sides of Elaine's personality. When Elaine discovers that her grandmother's photographs have been kept secret, she goes on a mission to learn all she can about Dolores and her mysterious life. Family wounds that have been deepening for decades come to the surface and must be confronted in light of Elaine's discoveries. Meanwhile, Earl, despite his infirmities, decides to pursue romance one last time and falls in love with a wise soul, Audrey, from Appalachia, who encourages Earl to bring to light the truth of Dolores' inspired life and work. The characters find healing through these revelations and their newfound loves. Steeped in the exotic atmosphere of southern Louisiana, The Meeting of Air and Water celebrates the healing power of love at any age while exploring the nature and fragility of the human need to create, and the complications and struggles that arrive when this need is denied. With insight and humor the novel reveals the dangers of kept family secrets and the healing that can occur when truth comes to light. The novel was a finalist in the William Wisdom-William Faulkner novel-in-progress competition. It was inspired by the photographs of Fonville Winans, who traveled the coast of Louisiana in the 1920s documenting Cajun life.

Autor

Sharon LaCour grew up in New Orleans listening to her father and his siblings share stories in their Louisiana French language of their lives as the children of sharecroppers in central Louisiana and their dramatic move to New Orleans during the Depression. Most of Sharon's writing takes place in Louisiana and around the Deep South. Her interest in writing began with her mother narrating a new bedtime story every night, some of which she recorded on a Royal classic typewriter. Sharon went on to study music and completed a master's degree in piano. She began writing fiction in earnest during long winters she spent in Minnesota. Her stories and essays have been published in the Xavier, Sheepshead, Chautauqua and Arkansas Reviews among others. Although her writing is for adults, her stories often feature children and young adults in challenging situations. She also writes about women and the contradictions of motherhood and creativity; historic and current issues of racism and sexism; the influence of spirituality and belief; and the unique spirit of her cultural heritage. Sharon's debut literary novel, The Meeting of Air and Water, was a novel-in-progress finalist in the William Wisdom-William Faulkner novel competition in 2021. The novel was inspired by the photographs of Fonville Winans, a Baton Rouge photographer who documented Louisiana Cajun life in the 1920s. It follows the lives of two women artists, one grandmother to the other, who struggle against societal and cultural expectations that threaten their need to create. The intense atmosphere of the novel functions as a contributing character adding to the compelling narrative. Sharon lives in Lafayette, Louisiana with her husband and pets. She works as a pianist and piano teacher. She is working on a a coming-of-age novel set in rural Mississippi during the Depression and also an historical novel set in the late 18th century along Bayou Lafourche.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Claudia Drive Books
• Seitenzahl: 256
• Erscheinungstermin: 10. September 2024
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 216mm x 140mm x 15mm
• Gewicht: 366g
• ISBN-13: 9798991296113
• Artikelnr.: 71742788