Dangerous Secret [Kindle Edition]

Renee Goudeau (Author)

Book Description

In 1922, at the time of the One Drop and Jim Crow laws, Giselle O'Connell Richards is among the residents (White, Black, New Orleans French Creole, American Midwestern, mosquitoes, alligators, and a wild boar named Man O' War) of Lake Badin, Louisiana, located on the northern edge of the Cameron Parish chenier marsh. A young WWI widow and half-owner of Lake Badin's weekly newspaper, The Independent, Giselle fits the name of the paper, as weekly she skewers all things that she considers unjust, or simply inane in Lake Badin: chief among them the Captain of the Krewe of the Corsairs, Frank (Rabbit) Cotton III, a man who will take on anything that smells of money-including blackmail. Giselle discovers the truth in that first hand when her aunt is stopped on her way to murder Rabbit for his blackmail threats to reveal a ruinous secret she never knew existed. To save her aunt, Giselle decides to fight fire with fire, never dreaming that she'll be caught in the firestorm herself.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

I added African-American History to my tags because I have a quote that I used on the rear cover of my paperback edition of Dangerous Secret, that I left off the Kindle edition.

I think it expresses a lot and better than I could.

"It is important to read novels of days gone by, so that we can celebrate how far we have come and contemplate the work we still have to do."

       ----Cynthia Bily, Critical Essay on The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man, in Novels for Students, Thomson Gale, 2006.

I've now added a trailer that I think shows why the situation facing Odette held such trauma for her. As Dr Bily says, if we know the past we hopefully can avoid making its mistakes.

About the Author

Renee Goudeau was born and still lives in Southwest Louisiana in what's called the Acadiana parishes. Her dream has always been to create characters who would live and touch people. She used personal knowledge of the area, much research, and her imagination to bring Lake Badin in 1922 to life.

Product Details

• File Size: 541 KB
• Print Length: 362 pages
• Publisher: Swamp Iris Publishing (February 10, 2012)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00784O0PC
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #538,449 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars well-crafted and memorable story February 11, 2012

By Leila Summers

Format:Paperback

I'll start by saying that this book kept me up three nights in a row until the early hours of the morning. While initially some of the sentences appeared slightly long and awkward to me, this haunting tale and the lives of the intertwined characters soon drew me in. I was transported back into the sticky swamps of the Mississippi to a shocking era when slaves and secrets abounded. With eloquent writing and great attention to detail, this character-driven novel, which at times is slow-paced, held my attention and kept me caught up to the very end. I simply had to know what was going to happen next. I particularly enjoyed the dialogue and dialects of the time and the writing includes some lovely nuances. The story is not predictable and takes some interesting turns. The ending was a surprise and I felt, a good one. The author did an outstanding job in the telling of this well-crafted and memorable story.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful, honest, vividly told March 11, 2012

By BadHouse

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Renee Goudeau does a masterful job of story-telling in her new novel, Dangerous Secret. The opening chapters pull you in to a powerful, but fateful love story, as compelling as Scarlett O'Hara and Ashley Wilkes (or Scarlett and Rhett Butler). The setting in the deep south, amid the flooded cypress woods and sugar cane plantations, is wonderfully, vividly described---the mind-set, the driving values of the culture of a class society are skillfully woven into what evolves into a more modern story of greed, blackmail, and desperation.

Dangerous Secret should appeal to a broad audience and I strongly recommend it---it is imaginative, historically accurate, beautifully written, with strong characters. Since I grew up in those same south Louisiana swamps, I can testify to the accuracy and honesty of this story. It is a work of fiction, but it could have happened--it might have happened.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A tantalizing tale of deception and bigotry February 22, 2012

By M. Kallio

Format:Kindle Edition

Dangerous Secrets is a tantalizing tale of deception and bigotry. I was captivated by the characters and the locale of the story. I agree most heartily with the quote the author has chosen for her cover: "It is important to read novels of days gone by, so that we can celebrate how far we have come and contemplate the work we still have to do," Cynthia Bily, Critical Essay on THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN EX-COLORED MAN, in Novels for Students, Thomson Gale, 2006. I would remind the reader that the story must be read within the context of time and place. While certain will undoubtably be offensive to modern ears, they are appropiate to the time and place of the story. Kudos to Goudreau for staying true to these.
Goudreau has woven a tapestry with words of the Louisiana bayou and its people that is inviting and compelling.
Buy the book, make yourself a cup of tea and allow the author to take you on a journey to yesterday that you won't forget.

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