by Paula Fox
First published 2006
Helen Bynum arrives in New Orleans to live with her aunt Lulu, a retired actress who drinks heavily and has a sharp temper. The warm, languid city feels nothing like the cold gray atmosphere of her hometown Poughkeepsie. For the first time, Helen tastes real freedom and discovers who she might become. She finds herself surrounded by an eclectic group of friends: a poet and his lover, an elegant gay man, and the handsome son of a rabbi. Their affection makes her feel safe and protected in this new world. But as news of the approaching Second World War in Europe reaches New Orleans, Helen begins to see darker currents beneath the sweet surface of her new life. She uncovers the gray underbelly of New Orleans social relationships and learns disturbing truths about the friends she thought she knew. The city that promised liberation now reveals its capacity for disillusionment.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, adult-fiction
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: New Orleans, Poughkeepsie
Period: World War II
256 pages · Paperback · El Aleph Editores
Content warnings: war