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| Author | Arthur Pindle |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Julius Kiskis |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Historical Fiction |
| Publisher | Eloquent Books |
Publication date | 2010 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 167 p. (hardback) |
| ISBN | 978-1-60911-229-5 (hardcover edition) |
Plot Summary
editSet in 1825, Bayou St. John is a novel about two fugitives with a master/slave relationship who escape to start new lives in New Orleans. After a series of adventures and complications, they finally become free of their pursuers. The center of the story takes place at the hotel now owned by one of the fugitives, Jacques, a young French aristocrat who was once known as Count Mathieu. In France, the count won a duel with pistols to the death and fled to America to make a new start. Lucas, a young slave sold to a plantation owner, ends up killing the overseer. He attempts to escape from the dock in Charleston, where he encounters Jacques, who claims the young slave as his own, names him Pierre, and together they board a ship to New Orleans. More interesting characters enter the scene ... a beautiful woman named Yvette Osborne and her brother Henry.[1]
Chapter Synopsis
editChapter One: Mathieu’s Folly - In 1825 a young French aristocrat, Count Mathieu de Pont-Racine, is caught with an older aristocrat’s wife and challenged to a duel with pistols to the death.[2]
Chapter Two: Jacques’s Doom - Count Mathieu kills the husband, a member of a group of Freemasons sworn to avenge the death of any of their members. To escape, Count Mathieu alters his identity and flees to America as Jacques Corneille.[2]
Chapter Three: Lucas’s Torment - A young slave, Lucas, is pursued by the promiscuous wife of his master. As a result he is sold along with his sister to a new plantation nearby. On the way to the new plantation the overseer rapes the sister, and in a violent struggle Lucas kills the overseer.[2]
Chapter Four: Pierre’s Escape - Lucas, knowing he will be killed if he is caught, attempts to escape from the dock in Charleston where he encounters Jacques, who claims the young slave as his, names him Pierre, and they board a ship to New Orleans.[2]
Chapter Five: Voyage to America - On board the ship, Jacques and Pierre create the details of their new identities. Jacques meets the honeymooning couple, Monsieur and Madame LeBlanc, who suspects that Jacques’s background is false. Jacques expects that Madame LeBlanc might be a threat to him.[2]
Chapter Six: A Strange Place - Jacques and Pierre arrive in New Orleans uncertain if they have eluded their pursuers.[2]
Chapter Seven: Yvette Osborne’s Story - Yvette Osborne is a quadroon who breaks the tradition and lives on the wealth accumulated by her mother and grandmother. She has a younger brother, Henry Osborne, who she helps to go into business.[2]
Chapter Eight: Biology Lessons - Jacques purchases a hotel in the French Quarter and arranges to have Pierre educated to assist him in running the hotel. Pierre is seduced by his beautiful tutor, Yvette Osborne, and becomes obsessed with her.[2]
Chapter Nine: Mardi Gras - At a Mardi Gras party Pierre falls in love with the ambitious and naive Ellie. Madame LeBlanc makes a veiled threat to reveal her suspicions about Jacques’s background if he doesn’t consummate an affair with her.[2]
Chapter Ten: A New Love - Yvette undertakes to embarrass her husband by seducing Pierre a second time, but Pierre’s love for Ellie causes him to refuse. Witnessing the cruel treatment of a chain gang causes Pierre to think about his status as a slave and consider running away.[2]
Chapter Eleven: Dueling Oaks - Ellie rejects Pierre’s advances yet he continues to love her. A slave from a large Spanish estate near New Orleans is attacked by a white sailor, and the slave’s owner kills the assailant in a duel with swords. Jacques witnesses the duel and realizes that he might have to face his pursuers some day in a duel to the death.[2]
Chapter Twelve: Epidemic - Yellow fever breaks out and the hotel is filled with wealthy New Orleans citizens fleeing their homes, including Jacques’s two mistresses, the sophisticated Madame LeBlanc and the charming Marie Sullivan. A mysterious detective checks into the hotel and Jacques suspects that he might be the detective’s target.[2]
Chapter Thirteen: Voodoo - Henry assists Jacques and Pierre in getting rid of the detective by engaging him in a voodoo ritual. Pierre attends a voodoo celebration and becomes heartbroken when he observes Ellie with another man.[2]
Chapter Fourteen: The Quadroon Ball - Pierre attends a quadroon ball where a dispute breaks out over who would have a quadroon as a mistress. One of the disputants is killed in a duel with pistols.[2]
Chapter Fifteen: Haunted - Yvette acquires the wealth of her white father. Jacques considers buying a property but it is believed to harbor ghosts. The Underground Railroad offers to assist the slaves who want to escape.[2]
Chapter Sixteen: The Escape Plan - Jacques gives papers to Pierre to set him free. About forty slaves from New Orleans plan a mass escape.[2]
Chapter Seventeen: Betrayal - When the escape plan is betrayed by a black slave owner, the runaways are captured, whipped severely then returned to their masters.[2]
Chapter Eighteen: Resurrection - Paul Deschamps escapes when the slave owners learn of his part in the slaves’ escape plot.[2]
Chapter Nineteen: Dilemma - Yvette is discovered to be another betrayer of the slave escape. A group of black men who are punishing the betrayers give Henry and Pierre the option of taking care of Yvette themselves.[2]
Chapter Twenty: Retribution - Attempting to escape, Yvette is savaged by an alligator while Pierre watches, unwilling and unable to assist her. Jacques enters politics and leaves Pierre in charge of the hotel. Pierre is reconciled with Ellie.[2]
Main Characters
edit- Count Mathieu de Pont-Racine(Jacques Corneille)
- Lucas(Pierre)
- Yvette Osborne
- Henry Osborne
Author Description
editArthur Pindle is a philosophy professor who moved to New Orleans for several years to get to know it intimately to write this book. He's written a screenplay and is working on his next novel. He currently resides in Atlanta.[1]
References
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