Letters From My Sister

By Valerie Fraser Luesse

Libby eBook 

Published: 2023

Genre: Christian historical fiction

I enjoyed this book, but didn't love it as much as her title Under the Bayou Moon. Sisters Emmy and Callie Bullock are incredibly close even though they are very different in so many ways. Emmy loves dresses, tea parties, and is excited to be affianced to Knox. Callie would rather ride horses and go hunting with her dad and brothers.

Some parts of this book were very predictable and others took me by surprise. I was almost halfway though the book when I thought, "Emmy and Knox better hurry up and get married so they can move away and start the letter writing of the title . . . " How wrong I was!

Chapter 1: "Perfection made her uneasy."

This is from Callie. She is observing Knox looking over all the people at the May Day picnic. He is searching for Emmy and Callie thinks that the love her sister and Knox have is too perfect. Perfection makes me uneasy, too, but I think this was just simple foreshadowing.

Chapter 5: "Callie did her crying alone."

I'm not at all shy about letting others see me cry. I can appreciate people who prefer to be a bit more private with their feelings, though. 

Chapter 17: "'Everybody thinks I look after you,' she said, 'but they've got it backwards. They've always had it backwards.'"

Emmy is confiding in Callie about the conflict caused by Knox's twin brother Ryder (a real cad). Callie is the braver of the two of them. The sister bond is powerful for them!

Chapter 21: "She had taught Hepsy about the dangers of 'bad juju,' which they now met not with spells or incantations, as in the old days, but with prayers for the protection of Almighty."

I thought it was interesting that a Christian author would have characters (Hepsy, who ran the Bullocks' house and her mother Tirzah, the midwife and healer) who had special giftings that are generally considered paranormal. Their faith in God was emphasized, but there were a lot of very other worldly things in this book.

Chapter 32: "Now that Callie was married, she could understand how awful it would be to endure the kind of distance that separated her parents, whom she had never thought of as a married couple before - just her mother and father."

This made me laugh to think about how self-focused children are. (I remember not really considering my parents' lives, interests, etc. until I was much older!)

Chapter 32: "And life is very short - no matter how many years we're given." 

Amen to that! Life is short. And precious.

Chapter 33: "If there was one thing Callie understood now, it was the loneliness of bearing a burden all by yourself."

Again, the sisters have such a close connection to one another. It is sweet that she's more concerned about Emmy having to carry a terrible secret by herself than she is about her own situation.

Chapter 34: "It was thrilling to have a sense of purpose, to do something about her sister's sickness instead of helplessly grieving it."

When they decide to reopen the mill and Callie is on board to do the cooking for the men, it didn't seem very realistic. But I know that it is often easier to have a task or challenge than to sit around worrying!

Chapter 35: "Callie took a sip of hot coffee. 'A toothache beats those tea parties.'"

I'm with Callie! Drinking the coffee and avoiding the tea parties.

Chapter 37: "I will find a way to tell you everything. Just trust me as you always have. I promise to be worthy of it."

This is from Emmy's letter to Callie. The big secret and Callie's lost memories . . . all got a little overdone for me. But I did appreciate the sisters' relationship.

Chapter 44: "Callie had always found it odd that, at a time when people felt the least equipped to be social, a family funeral forced them to entertain everyone they knew."

Ugh! We shouldn't put burdens on people who are already grieving! I'm glad we don't have to host post-funeral gatherings in our home nowadays. My house is rarely clean.

Author's Note: "And I believe our innate humanity, a gift from God, will always have the power to overcome hatred and injustice."

That is a lovely sentiment. I like her positive perspective. I like that she had some really cool characters (both black and white) in this story. Ryder was a proper villain. Callie was a wonderful protagonist. It will be nice to discuss this at book club tomorrow evening.

Under the Bayou Moon

by Valerie Fraser Luesse

Dakota County Library paperback 324 pages

Published: 2021

Genre: Christian historical fiction

 

We had a lovely book club discussion on Monday night. Luesse is a delightful author and she wrote this story so that each of us could see what she was describing. 

 

Main character Ellie Fields is a teacher heading into Louisiana's bayou country. Originally from Alabama, she's like a babe in the woods in New Orleans before heading into the small community of Bernadette to teach. Raphe is the man who has seen beauty (the white alligator) and horrors (the loss of most of his family in a hurricane) in the bayou. Heywood is a genial man Ellie meets in NO and then encounters again in Bernadette.

 

Though many of us at book club anticipated different paths (the center of conflict, what occurs at school vs. elsewhere, etc.), we all enjoyed the book and had different take-aways.

 

Page 49 - "He really thought French speakers were holding back the whole state. It's an unfortunate quality of human beings that we're prone to condemn the unfamiliar."

 

This observation made me think of POTUS #45 and Mexicans . . . 

 

Page 71 - "Cajuns didn't worship alligators anymore than Catholics worshiped statues. The very idea that such a misguided notion might destroy something so purely beautiful as the white alligator was more than he could stand."

 

I liked that first line. People (including me) can be quick to judge . . . but we need to think about some of our thoughts, words, and actions before casting about and causing distress.

 

Page 142 - "The thought of a life without her made the hole in his heart so deep that nothing could possibly fill it. And yet he had to ask:Where does love end and selfishness begin? Or could it be possible for one to overcome the other if you loved somebody so much that their happiness was your own?"

 

The first line of this is NOT what caught my attention. His contemplation of  love and selfishness, of truly showing love by wanting that person to have the best - that I like.

Page 237 - "But it was typical of small Southern communities. Things went on as they always had, with nobody ever questioning the reason why."

I don't think it's just in small Southern communities. A lot of human groups - churches, organizations, businesses, families - continue to do what they've "always" done without questioning why. Tradition and familiarity can be very comforting.

The Key to Everything

by Valerie Fraser Luesse

Carver County Library paperback 332 pages

Published: 2020

Genre: Christian historical fiction

Even though I got the book a week before book club, I only started reading it the day before . . . and had 70 pages left when I went to the discussion. Enjoyable book, pretty lightweight read. Set shortly after WWII, this is 15 y.o. Peyton Cabot's story. He is almost too wonderful to be true. Thoughtful, kind, respectful, insightful . . . he was an unusual protagonist - nearly flawless!

One of my favorite threads in the story involved Peyton's interactions with young Bonnie and Jasper. When they initially meet in the hospital, this conversation melted my heart.

"I'm sorry - am I being nosy?" (Peyton)

"It's okay," Bonnie said, smiling at him. "I think you got a good heart."

"How can you tell?"

"Because when people's got black hearts, it shows in their eyes. There ain't no light in 'em cause there ain't no light inside. You got lots o' light."

Honestly, I've met people whose eyes gave me the chills. A little later, they have another moment that also struck me.

"It's not a handout," Peyton said. "It's a thank-you for keeping me comp'ny. I woulda had to eat all by myself if you and Jasper hadn't come along. Sure is lonesome to eat by yourself."

"It sure it." She stared solemnly at Peyton. "How come you done all this for us?"

He thought about it for a second. "Because everybody oughta help everybody else when they can. You'd help me if I needed it, wouldn't you?"

Bonnie slowly nodded. "I sure would. Things just ain't never been where I could help nobody."

"You're helping your mama right now by takin' care o' Jasper. And you helped Jasper when you asked me to share my pie."

"I guess I did," Bonnie said with a big grin. (Pgs 62-63)

Aunt Gert was one of my absolute favorite characters in this book! Her wisdom, sense of humor, and kindness were radiant. When she and Peyton are talking about the truth of his grandparents, her comments on Cajuns made me smile.

"You are one hundred percent one o' the Cabots. You just don't have any o' that crazy Kelly blood from Celia's side o' the family, which is all to the good, if you want my opinion. And somewhere in Louisiana, you've got some family you never even met. Prob'ly Cajun. You feel particularly musical all of a sudden?"

Peyton laughed and kicked off his sneakers so he could shove his feet into the cool sand like Aunt Gert. "No, ma'am." 

"Well, that's too bad. Maybe we'll find out you can cook. Louisiana people can cook like nobody's business." (pg. 97)

Peyton meets so many interesting people on his bike ride to Key West. When he's having lemonade with Matilda, she makes a sweet observation.

"You been loved, Peyton. I can tell. It just shows in a person. You coulda been off havin' all kinda adventures, but here you are takin' the time to talk to a old lady in her kitchen."

Peyton pointed a finger at her and grinned. "You bribed me with lemonade." (pg. 172)

I'm not sure why I marked this, except that it made me stop and think for a bit.

Peyton was about to experience his second stay on a military base - a place where he was starting to feel very much at home. . . . . There seemed to be a sense of shared pride and purpose. Most of all, Peyton was drawn to the clarity of military life - the certainty of knowing exactly what you were supposed to do and how you were supposed to do it. (pg. 238)

I don't want to write a long explanation or put this in context, but when Peyton was catching Lisa up on all his adventures, he said this.

". . . to the two children from the hospital, Bonnie and Jasper, who had lingered with him - more like something he wasn't supposed to forget than something he wanted to remember." (pg. 253)

Grief. It can be so incredibly difficult to deal with and work through. Kate shares.

"I don't know how to do this, Aunt Gert - how to get to a place where I can carry Marshall with me without crying all the time." (pg. 274)

I love Peyton's response when Lisa says, "Nothing scares you, does it?"

He frowned as he thought about her question. "It's not that I don't get scared. I just try not to let being scared stop me from doing whatever I've made up my mind to do." (pg. 297)

Back to Bonnie. I love that kid!

"You sure got a bunch o' love in you, Peyton." Bonnie said with a sigh. "It's a wonder it don't spill out all over the place and make a big ol' mess." (pg. 313)

I love how the epilogue brings us up to date with all the characters. Bonnie's comments on Jasper's choices (and even more - Peyton's response) were a great way to wrap the story up.

Bonnie sighed and looked him square in the eyes. "He's in a commune in California. There. Now you know. He's a full-on hippie. And he's protesting the war."

"Is he happy?"

"Yes."

"Is he safe out there?"

"Yes."

"Well, if he's happy and safe, that's all that matters. Why didn't you tell me before?"

"You mean why didn't I tell an Air Force colonel that the boy he rescued is a hippie and a war protestor?"

"He served his hitch. Did his duty. He's got a right to feel how he feels about the war. Everybody's different, Bonnie. Serving in Korea made me want to be in the military for life. I guess Vietnam made Jasper never want to go near it again." (pg. 329)

This was a lovely, albeit lightweight book. The book club discussion followed suit.

Almost Home

by Valerie Fraser Luesse
Hennepin County Library paperback 318 pages
genre: Christian historical fiction

This is our March book club title. I really enjoyed it a lot! The characters were wonderfully written, though there were a lot of them and I didn't remember them all.

Book blurb: "With America's entrance into World War II, the town of Blackberry Springs, Alabama, has exploded virtually overnight. Workers from all over are coming south for jobs in Uncle Sam's munitions plants - and they're bringing their pasts with them, right into Dolly Chandler's grand but fading family home turned boardinghouse."

Page 41 - "Nobody knows. Presbyterians keep things close to the vest. They're not like us Baptists. If we know it, we've told it."  This made me laugh! I don't know a lot about the different denominations, but I would be a Baptist if this were the only criteria! Actually, I can keep quiet about things; it just takes effort.

Page 47 - "She would much rather have one close friend than twenty casual acquaintances, and she tended to move slowly in forging those bonds." Said about Anna, it makes a lot of sense that some people are more deliberate and prefer a smaller, tighter circle of people around them. I'm not that way in general.

Page 57 - "Leaves are at the mercy of the current, Anna, but you and Jesse are not. You can choose whether to float wherever it takes you or swim against it. And you can choose whether to travel together or let the rocks divide you. That's a decision you must make together. Otherwise you could land on opposite sides of the river." I love Lillian's gentle, loving way of prodding people's minds and hearts.

Page 66 - "Tell him you're done with this nonsense. You're his wife and you mean to have a husband again. Just give it to him straight. Men can't decipher hints and moods, so you gotta put what you're feelin' in a cast-iron skillet and hit 'em over the head with it." Amen, Daisy! These two women were so good for one another. Daisy's advice to Anna was what she needed to hear. Men definitely are not fabulous (in general) about picking up on subtle hints.

Page 157 - "He had not lost his faith, but he had lost the ability to cope with the powerful emotions it stirred. Church seemed to demand that he contain but not extinguish the fires it stoked. Reed just wasn't up to it." I loved the story of Reed's journey through this book.

Page 261 - "We've been throwin' time away, Reed. And time's a gift. We oughta be usin' every minute we've got." Yes, Daisy! You're absolutely right. Time is an incredible gift.

This book was fairly predictable but definitely interesting enough to keep my interest. I want to read more by this author! I enjoyed this and look forward to the book club discussion.

Dolly and Si
Anna and Jesse
Daisy
Reed
Miss Lillian
Catherine and Andre