Customer Reviews

Blue Camellia

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Frances Parkinson Keyes was a popular author of the 1940s and 50s. She was married to a man who served in the U.S. Senate and became governor of New Hampshire. She did much of her writing in New Orleans, Louisiana, in a Victorian mansion previously owned by a confederate general. Beauregard House is now a museum.

Keye wrote meticulously researched historical novels, many of them with a Catholic slant. Her 1957 novel, _Blue Camellia_, tells the story of the development of south Louisiana from swampland to productive rice farms.

I read this book years ago and loved it! It's one of my all-time favorite novels. It's a story about a woman who is loved by two brothers and how the choices they each make drastically affects the others. I can still see the last scenes of the story in my mind. I definitely recommend it.

What a great book! I will definitely be investigating this author further! It is clear that Keyes meticulously researched Louisiana's history as she wrote this story, and it is detailed without boring, the characters sensual without resorting to graphic depictions. The novel is gentle, and as inviting as that famed Southern hospitality.

In many ways, the story and the writing style reminded me of Laura Ingalls Wilder and the Little House series. It has the same rolling, naturally unfolding qualities that make Wilder's work so acclaimed - but Blue Camellia certainly isn't written for children!

It would be a shame for Keye's novels to be forgotten - clearly, she is an artist who took great pride and care in her craft!

my 93 year old mom thinks this author is one of the best story tellers of her life.

thank goodness I can keep mom happy.

I ordered this book because it was described as being in very good condition. The book was in good condition, but I was quite disappointed that the jacket was pretty torn, and I will not be able to display it on my library shelf.