The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc: A Novel [Paperback]

Loraine Despres (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 6, 2002

It's a steamy June afternoon in Louisiana, circa 1956, and Sissy LeBlanc is sitting on her front porch, wondering -- half seriously -- if she could kill herself with aspirins and Coca-Cola. She's been living in stifling old Gentry since the day she was born and trapped in a sham of a marriage to PeeWee LeBlanc since she was only seventeen. In short, she's fed up, restless, and ready for an adventure.

Sissy just never imagined temptation would come into her life that breathless summer day as she sat smoking on her porch swing. For although she may have been fixated on the taut muscles of the lineman shimmying down the telephone pole across the street, she hadn't allowed herself to imagine that he'd be none other than her high school sweetheart, Parker Davidson, who left town fourteen years before without so much as a wave good-bye. But suddenly, here he is, leaning in for a kiss that will stir up more excitement than Sissy could ever have imagined...

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

While most readers may not immediately recognize the author's name, many will be familiar with her TV work. She's written for Dynasty, The Waltons, Love Boat, and Knots Landing and is probably best known for the "Who Shot J.R.?" episode of Dallas. Her television background serves her well in this debut novel. Her timing is excellent and the plot twists are both delightful and surprising. Sissy LeBlanc lives by a code she calls "The Southern Belle's Handbook." When a pithy idea pops into her head, she instinctively knows how that code applies to her life. Sissy understands her role as granddaughter of a suffragette, daughter of a newspaper editor, wife of PeeWee, and mother of three, but lately she's been feeling restless. When her high school sweetheart comes back to Gentry, LA, after a 14-year absence, Sissy decides that it is time to make some changes in her life if they cause a little scandal, so be it. Readers may be reminded of the movies Fried Green Tomatoes and Something To Talk About. Despres's heroine has spunk, her villains get their comeuppance, and her ending is psychologically satisfying. Recommended for public libraries with large collections of women's fiction. Pam Kingsbury, Florence, AL
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

This debut novel by prominent television writer Despres (whose credits include the infamous "Who Shot J. R.?" episode of Dallas) tells the story of an unhappy housewife and the trouble she stirs up while conducting an adulterous love affair during the long, hot summer of 1956. Set in the small southern town of Gentry, Louisiana, this tale of lust, jealousy, and regret unfolds playfully amid a colorful cast of eccentric small-town characters. And although the story maintains a humorous bent, it doesn't shy away from addressing serious issues, such as racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, and sexual abuse. Sissy LeBlanc, married for 14 years to a man she detests and mother of three children she can barely stand, finds herself bored, lonely, and up for some excitement. Conveniently, her old high-school sweetheart mysteriously appears back in town. Their reacquaintance sets in motion a series of events that reveals shocking secrets and hard truths for many of the story's main characters. Fans of romance and contemporary women's fiction will especially enjoy this rather quirky novel. Kathleen Hughes
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 342 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial; 6th edition (August 6, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060505885
• ISBN-13: 978-0060505882
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (73 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #806,167 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Writing is easy. Good writing is agony.
Never-the-less I'm a writer. That's what I do. Fortunately I've actually been able to make a living at it. In a former life, I wrote educational radio in Chicago and advertising in Paris. I wrote poetry and plays in New Orleans, where I won some awards, was published, and produced, but I wanted to break into show business. So I packed up my son and headed for Hollywood.
Within two years I was writing network television. I worked on a lot of shows you'll probably remember, but I was most famous for penning that icon of pop culture, the 'Who Shot J.R.?' episode of DALLAS. It was a big deal and at the time the most watched show in history.
I quit TV in the 90s to fulfill a life-long ambition. I wanted people to read my words as I'd written them and not think some beautiful actor made them up. I believed I'd be able to finish my first book THE SCANDALOUS SUMMER OF SISSY LEBLANC in six months. It took me three long years and for a while nobody wanted to publish it, although editors agreed it was beautifully written. They said so in their rejection letters. They also said they didn't know how to sell it. Then Rebecca Wells, bless her heart, published the Devine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and suddenly there was a market.
A perspicacious editor at William Morrow bought SCANDALOUS SISSY. It became a Literary Guild Selection, a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Pick, a national best-seller and is now in its 21st printing in paperback. Sissy is the ultimate Desperate Housewife, trapped in a little town in a bad marriage when her old high school boyfriend comes back.
My second book, THE SOUTHERN BELLE'S HANDBOOK, SISSY LEBLANC'S RULES TO LIVE BY, was published because people kept telling me they were going through SCANDALOUS SUMMER and writing down all Sissy's 'Rules.' It's a little gift book and a compilation of Sissy's wisdom.
My new novel, now going into its second paperback printing, is THE BAD BEHAVIOR OF BELLE CANTRELL. It's about Sissy's wild suffragist grandmother Belle when she was a beautiful young widow who kicked up her heels in 1920. It's another story of murder, adultery, and regular church attendance, but on a deeper level it's a story of intolerance and love, my main themes, and one woman's search for her moral center in a violent time, much like today.
Quick update: My son, David Mulholland, whom I packed up and moved to California, is now a writer and editor living in London. I continue to live in Los Angeles with my writer-producer husband, Carleton Eastlake, and continue to enjoy bad behavior.
For more check out: www.LoraineDespres.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The real deal, April 23, 2002

By 

Theresa Mcdonald "Terri McDonald" (new orleans) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc: A Novel (Hardcover)

As much as I love living down here in the Deep South I enjoy reading a good book about it even more. This was one of the rare books set in the South that accurately portrayed and didn't make us look like charicatures of our real selves.

Set in rural Gentry, Louisiana Sissy's story is essentially a flash back to her early adult years when she was trapped in a loveless marriage with PeeWee LeBlanc, a man she never really loved in the first place. This particualar summer her high school sweetheart returns to Gentry and stirs up his and Sissy's desire once again. Throughout the book we see views of young Sissy in high school and of adult Sissy struggling to be the reputable wife and mother while fighting her feelings for Parker. These glimpses show just how Sissy ended up stuck in Gentry with PeeWee and often make you wonder which was the scandalous summer - her high school one or the one that is the "main" focus of the story.

This was a most entertaining and often enlightening read. There were some very dark themes in the book but they were well handled and balanced by all the good Southern charm and humor dispersed through out. I look forward to more from this author.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sissy Rocks!, December 8, 2001

By 

Richard Walter (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc: A Novel (Hardcover)

Sissy is sexy, sassy, savvy, and sweetly, seductively sinful. Ain't nobody--certainly no mere man--push her 'round. Here is honey-dipped hilarity from start to finish, with much to say about the way men and women get along and, perhaps more pertinently, the way they do not. Loraine Despres writes with a Southern-fried quill that flows with characters who are fiercely, wholly, completely human. Sissy Leblanc's Scandalous Summer is laff-out-loud funny and keenly erotic. Its author serves up a feast, a banquet, that pops and sizzles with dialog that is so sharp you should read it with a supply of BandAids at the ready.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Caution ~~ you won't be able to put this one down!, April 26, 2002

By 

Busy Mom (Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc: A Novel (Hardcover)

I happened to see this book and knew that it was going to be a fun read ~~ it has all the ingredients I look for in a book ~~ saucy, sexy and hilarious. Sissy LeBlanc, without trying to, stirs up trouble wherever she goes. Married to PeeWee, Sissy realizes that she is bored in her marriage. When a high school flame breezed in from out of town, she hooks up with him and trouble ensues in their path.

It has the perfect characters ~~ there is the wimpy husband, Peewee who could never stand up to his father, there's the father-in-law who is evil to the core; there is the psychopathic older son, Chip, who uses his mother's trangressions to his benefits, as well as torturing people and dogs with his chemistry set; the adorable middle son, Billy Joe and the cute little daughter, Marilee. There is Parker, the old high school flame who could never get Sissy out of his mind; Belle, the sassy grandmother who is proud of her granddaughter; the cousin who is of mixed race and how Sissy trys to help her to get ahead to college. There is the typical nosey-body neighbor who couldn't wait to tell Peewee about his wife's sin ... and so forth. These characters will stick with you long after the last page is turned.

Written with typical southern dry wit and humor ~~ this book is absolutely perfect for people to take on vacation. You'll fall in love with Sissy and her pickled watermelon rinds. You'll enjoy reading about her scandalous summer in 1956 where she shocked everyone in Gentry with her love affair with Parker. You'll find yourself rooting for her as well. This is just a great book to read! It was a near-miss for me ~~ one that I am glad to have picked up!...