Tales of a Time and Place: Louisiana Bayou History and Heritage in Five Stories

Grace King's stories offer vivid glimpses into Louisiana's heritage, set in the rural bayou and the lively French Quarter of New Orleans.

Born to a prominent family in New Orleans, Grace King nevertheless experienced hardship in the years following the American Civil War. Her character's in these lively stories range from the impoverished to the wealthy and distinguished; the full social strata of Louisiana are depicted as it was in the mid-19^th century. With the state's French heritage comes outpourings of patriotism and recollections of Napoleon's glory, while Christian adherence underpins much of the society.

Bayou L'Ombre is a story notable for its autobiographical elements and setting during the U.S. Civil War. The confusion and chaos of the time serves as a backdrop to the dramas unfolding in the marshy districts around the family sugar plantation. The occupying federal forces, and rumors of fighting somewhere off in territory further north convey tension, drama and uncertainty - though Grace King was but a girl at the time, her memories of this fraught era were lifelong.

In all, Tales of a Time and Place carries historical value; the distant past of Louisiana, its lively ethnic diaspora, its diversity and traditions, and the clashes residents endured - both cultural and military - make for engrossing fiction.