Bayou Spirits
Publisher: Hilliard & Harris Publishers
Published: April 9, 2007
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 188
ISBN-13: 9781591332138
Subjects: Romantic fantasy; Enchantment; Cajun/Creole Gothic
Genres: Magical fantasy romance
First sentence: Helene smoothes the folds of her hooped skirt, absently arranging them as she sits in the arbor, lost in thought.
Description: Bayou Spirits is a fantasy romance, blending love, humor, a good deal of haunting and judicious moments of horror.   It depicts a culture of Cajun Catholicism and gris gris mollified by the touch of a Creole traiteuse (folk healer).  Developing new mental and spiritual skills, the heroine calls forth her loa to protect the lives of her loved ones.  In the final challenge, she must rely upon her newfound powers and the loved ones she conjures to hold power over death.   

Set in South Louisiana, the plot travels from a rural family crypt to a haunted Acadian plantation and through a French Quarter magic shop, and New Orleans jazz brunch.  The obligatory swamp scenes (from treacherous to enchanting) are followed by a Fais Do Do –  complete with Zydeco music, the cochon de lait (suckling pig), a seafood boil and untimely death.
Notes: If you ask what gris gris is, you will find many who say devil worship, black magic, or  voo doo.   Check a French dictionary, and you will find it is simply the color gray.   Neither black nor white in racial or moral hue, the gris gris shape shifts according to its user's motives.