page_title: Frances Parkinson Keyes
section_title: Louisiana and Mississippi Valley novels
hierarchical_section_title: Frances Parkinson Keyes / Louisiana and Mississippi Valley novels
caption_attribution_description: Louisiana: San Francisco Plantation House on River Road near Convent, Louisiana, in 1938 Notes: Pair of cisterns on either side of main building.
context_page_description: Frances Parkinson Keyes was an American author who wrote about her life as the wife of a U.S. Senator and novels set in New England, Louisiana, and Europe. A convert to Roman Catholicism, her later works frequently featured Catholic themes and beliefs. Her last name rhymes with "skies," not "keys."
context_section_description: The first of Keyes' novels set in Louisiana was Crescent Carnival, which tells the story of three generations of two intertwined families. The Breckenridges are Protestants, while the Fontaines are Catholic Louisiana Creoles, and the plot hinges on the way that pride and misfortune conspire with cultural and political differences to keep prospective lovers from marrying. The cycle of failure only ends with two people have the courage to defy the odds and accept their love for each other. Carnival celebrations—mostly Carnival balls, but also including Mardi Gras parades—form the backdrop of many scenes. An incident involving two Mardi Gras parades facing off when they nearly collide is based on a true story, as recorded by Robert Tallent in his book, Mardi Gras.
  The River Road is set against the backdrop of an old family sugar plantation, and the d'Alvery family that struggles to keep it viable between the two world wars. The River Road is notable among Keyes' books for the tragic endings of two out of the three marriages chronicled in the novel. Most characters do not experience a 'happy ending'. In the UK, The River Road was published as two volumes, The River Road (Parts I-VI of the U.S. publication) and Vail d'Alvery (Parts VII-XI of the U.S. publication).
  Steamboat Gothic is a true Gothic novel set along Louisiana's famed River Road.  The plantation home which inspired this novel is still in existence; it is called "San Francisco", with mid-Victorian architecture reminiscent of a steamboat.  Set between 1865 and the Great Depression, Steamboat Gothic discusses the change in transportation methods from steamboat to railroad and the effect the change had upon the plantations along the River Road. In the UK, the novel was published in two volumes, Steamboat Gothic in 1952 and Larry Vincent in 1953. The first book covers a period from 1869 to 1895, and the second a period from 1897 to 1930. Eyre & Spottiswoode published both titles in the UK.
  Mrs. Keyes also lived for a time in one of the plantations along the River Road.  "The Cottage" was located north of the area known as Duncan's Point and was the setting for her novel, The River Road.  "The Cottage" burned to the ground in the 1960s.  However, the ruins of the place still remain.
  Blue Camellia is set in the prairie country of South Louisiana and takes place on a rice farm. The protagonist and his wife are transplanted Midwesterners who arrive in Cajun country and see the Cajun culture through the eyes of outsiders.
  The murder mystery Dinner at Antoine's, set in the immediate aftermath of World War II, became Keyes' biggest seller (and was also her only mystery, apart from the England-set The Royal Box, which has a few of the same characters). The plot is an interesting twist on the "Least Likely Person" concept of the murder mystery and is notable for "playing fair" with the reader: all the clues you need to solve the mystery are embedded in the novel. A subplot involving diplomatic and political manipulation made use of Keyes' experiences in Washington, D.C., as a Senator's wife.
  Madame Castel's Lodger is a fictionalized biography of General P. G. T. Beauregard. Keyes' other Civil War novel is The Chess Players a highly fictionalized biography of Paul Morphy, the world chess champion who was born in New Orleans.
  Keyes' Louisiana novels are loosely tied together by bits of common background that pop up in various books. Antoine's Restaurant appears at least briefly in all but Blue Camellia. General Beauregard also appears in each of the books set before 1900, and is mentioned in some way in all but one of the others (again, the exception is Blue Camellia). Paul Morphy is the lead character in The Chess Players and is discussed in several other books. A slightly ribald anecdote about a panicked Creole bride on her wedding night is told in The River Road and is mentioned in Once on Esplanade, Madame Castel's Lodger, The Chess Players and others. The Villere family are at center stage in Once on Esplanade and reappear (especially Madame Claiborne née Villere, Keyes' fr
caption: San Francisco Plantation House in 1938
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