Books Set in North America: American South and Canada

The Saints of Lost Things, by C.H. Lawler (2014)

This novel begins as Hurricane Betsy is about to hit the Louisiana coast in 1965.  Sammy Teague, the wealthy young son of a Louisiana planter, was about to leave the plantation and head back to college at Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi. Instead, he is the sole member of his family left at home to keep an eye on the plantation.

Betsy Duplechain lives across the field in the plantation’s tenement house where she lives with her mother and grandmother. She, too, is left alone in the house to sit out the storm.  Although Betsy and Sammy have lived on the same plantation all their lives, until the hurricane, their lives never intersected.

After the first wave of the storm hits, Sammy sees Betsy struggling at her home.  The storm has caused damage to the little hut.  Sammy invites Betsy to wait out the storm with him in the main house.  They are immediately attracted to each other and become inseperable.  After the storm, when their families return to the plantation, Sammy and Betsy’s lives are changed forever.

When Sammy’s family learns of his attraction to Betsy, he is cut-off financially.  He can no longer afford his college life-style.  Because he is no longer a college student, he no longer has the draft deferment.  He can either enlist or head to Canada.

When Betsy’s mother learns she is pregnant, Betsy is disowned and kicked out of the house.  She, thinking that Sammy is in college in Oxford, heads there to find him.

In the meantime, the Deputy Sheriff of the fictional St. Matthew’s Parish, Louisiana, feels that the Teague family had stolen his family’s land.  He decides Hurricane Betsy provides him with the best opportunity to get his land back if only he can get to Sammy.  This is where the story goes off the rails.  The deputy is depicted as a stereotypical corrupt and cruel country law enforcement officer.  He schemes to follow Sammy and Betsy through their travels.

Eventually, Betsy and Sammy find each other.  They decide to head towards Canada.  On the way, they stop in Arkansas, where they are married by a kindly and psychic priest.  The priest warns that that the sheriff is following them and assists in providing a way to their destination.

Much of the story didn’t make logical sense. It was an interesting read, but not one that will remain with me.

Read: April 26, 2019

3 Stars