Loraine Despres' Novels

Well, that finishes up my coverage of Loraine Despres' The Bad Behavior of Belle Cantrell.

So ... why does a middle-aged, married, male academic economist from Utah read books about the fast approaching middle-age of independent women from pre-A/C Louisiana?

In truth, I don't. I've read one set of books that fits that description:

I read quite a bit, but not many books. Most of those are non-fiction. The last living writer who got me to read more than one of their books was Patrick O'Brian.

But, I'll be waiting patiently for the next book by Ms. Despres.

She's doing something very good to keep me hooked. What that is, I'm not quite sure. Her characters are funny and offbeat, yet true to form. Her books are fairly light reading, but there are deep musings every chapter or two as well. The historical detail is lush but not overwhelming. I care about the characters without feeling like my buttons are being pushed. Many novels - like, say The DaVinci Code - push so many buttons you rush through them blindly like a dog answering the doorbell. But not these books ...

I remember what my life was like when I read The Winter of Our Discontent. I know where I was when I read The Wine Dark Sea. Not to pick on The DaVinci Code, but I don't associate it with a specific point in my life ... but I can fix The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc squarely in a dreary winter of anthrax letters and news from Afghanistan in late 2001. I don't know why, but I know it's a good thing.

P.S. I harbor no illusions that I am like Rafe or Parker ... but I'm damn sure I'm not Bouree.