Flags on the Bayou
James Lee Burke
(Author)
Description
From New York Times-bestselling author James Lee Burke comes a novel set in Civil War-era Louisiana as the South transforms and a brilliant cast of characters - enslaved and free women, plantation gentry, and battle-weary Confederate and Union soldiers - are caught in the maelstromIn the fall of 1863, the Union army is in control of the Mississippi river. Much of Louisiana, including New Orleans and Baton Rouge, is occupied. The Confederate army is retreating toward Texas, and being replaced by Red Legs, irregulars commanded by a maniacal figure, and enslaved men and women are beginning to glimpse freedom.
When Hannah Laveau, an enslaved woman working on the Lufkin plantation, is accused of murder, she goes on the run with Florence Milton, an abolitionist schoolteacher, dodging the local constable and the slavecatchers that prowl the bayous. Wade Lufkin, haunted by what he observed--and did--as a surgeon on the battlefield, has returned to his uncle's plantation to convalesce, where he becomes enraptured by Hannah. Flags on the Bayou is an engaging, action-packed narrative that includes a duel that ends in disaster, a brutal encounter with the local Union commander, repeated skirmishes with Confederate irregulars led by a diseased and probably deranged colonel, and a powerful story of love blossoming between an unlikely pair. As the story unfolds, it illuminates a past that reflects our present in sharp relief.
James Lee Burke, whose "evocative prose remains a thing of reliably fierce wonder" (Entertainment Weekly), expertly renders the rich Louisiana landscape, from the sunsets on the Mississippi River to the dingy saloons of New Orleans to the tree-lined shores of the bayou and the cottonmouth snakes that dwell in its depths. Powerful and deeply moving, Flags on the Bayou is a story of tragic acts of war, class divisions upended, and love enduring through it all.
Product Details
Price
$28.00
$26.04
Publisher
Atlantic Monthly Press
Publish Date
July 11, 2023
Pages
320
Dimensions
6.14 X 9.06 X 1.26 inches | 1.01 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9780802161697
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About the Author
JAMES LEE BURKE is a New York Times bestselling author, two-time winner of the Edgar Award, winner of the CWA Gold Dagger and the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, and the recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts in Fiction. He has authored forty novels and two short story collections. He lives in Missoula, Montana.
Reviews
Praise for Flags on the Bayou: "[An] outstanding thriller.... Burke stitches plot threads and
historical details with ease, weaving it all into an urgent, propulsive story
steeped in his deep personal connections to Louisiana. This is masterful." - Publishers
Weekly (starred review)"The
Civil War comes to New Iberia, Louisiana, the capital of Burke's wondrous
fictional empire... [readers] may well agree that it's his most probing
examination of the enduring legacy of slavery... A grueling, compassionate
demonstration that 'the devil ain't down in a fiery pit. He's right here.'" - Kirkus
(starred review)"A
remarkable, beautiful, edgy, and haunting novel". - Booklist"A stunning work. Man's addiction to darkness and evil
is on horrific display, yet love's fierce light shines through the poorest of
souls. With a belief in God's grace and redemption, they demand the courage to
seek it, against all odds. Often I had to reread a sentence or paragraph,
smiling and shaking my head at the power of words assembled that evoke
emotional landslides no one creates like James Lee Burke. Get this now. It
will take you apart and heal you. Lord, what a magnificent book!" - Nils Lofgren, Member of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with
Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and Member of Neil Young's Crazy Horse Band"James Lee Burke is an American icon, a writer of peerless
prose and unmatched depth, a storyteller who faces down the darkness and guides
us toward the glimmers of light. With Flags on the Bayou, he doesn't
back down from the horrors of American history, but brings to life those who
perpetuated unspeakable evil and those who fought nobly against it, reminding
us all that while the horrors may endure, so does the potential for grace,
beauty, and redemption." - Michael
Koryta, New York Times bestselling author"No one can word-sketch an eerily beautiful scene quite like
the living legend James Lee Burke, whether he's describing bloodred
bougainvillea dripping off ironwork in New Orleans or fog shrouding the
Mississippi. In his latest novel, Flags on the Bayou (Atlantic
Monthly Press), Civil War-era Louisiana provides the turbulent backdrop for a
murder accusation, skirmishes, blossoming love, and the specter of a storm over
the Gulf." - Garden & GunPraise for James Lee Burke: "James Lee Burke is the reigning champ of nostalgia noir." -
New York Times Book Review "You can always count on Burke to deliver a white-hot
page-turner." --AARP Magazine "Burke's evocative prose remains a
thing of reliably fierce wonder." --Entertainment Weekly "One of the finest novelists in North America." --Margaret
Cannon, Globe and Mail "James Lee Burke is one of a small handful of elite suspense
writers whose work transcends the genre, making the leap into capital-L
Literature." --Bookpage
historical details with ease, weaving it all into an urgent, propulsive story
steeped in his deep personal connections to Louisiana. This is masterful." - Publishers
Weekly (starred review)"The
Civil War comes to New Iberia, Louisiana, the capital of Burke's wondrous
fictional empire... [readers] may well agree that it's his most probing
examination of the enduring legacy of slavery... A grueling, compassionate
demonstration that 'the devil ain't down in a fiery pit. He's right here.'" - Kirkus
(starred review)"A
remarkable, beautiful, edgy, and haunting novel". - Booklist"A stunning work. Man's addiction to darkness and evil
is on horrific display, yet love's fierce light shines through the poorest of
souls. With a belief in God's grace and redemption, they demand the courage to
seek it, against all odds. Often I had to reread a sentence or paragraph,
smiling and shaking my head at the power of words assembled that evoke
emotional landslides no one creates like James Lee Burke. Get this now. It
will take you apart and heal you. Lord, what a magnificent book!" - Nils Lofgren, Member of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with
Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and Member of Neil Young's Crazy Horse Band"James Lee Burke is an American icon, a writer of peerless
prose and unmatched depth, a storyteller who faces down the darkness and guides
us toward the glimmers of light. With Flags on the Bayou, he doesn't
back down from the horrors of American history, but brings to life those who
perpetuated unspeakable evil and those who fought nobly against it, reminding
us all that while the horrors may endure, so does the potential for grace,
beauty, and redemption." - Michael
Koryta, New York Times bestselling author"No one can word-sketch an eerily beautiful scene quite like
the living legend James Lee Burke, whether he's describing bloodred
bougainvillea dripping off ironwork in New Orleans or fog shrouding the
Mississippi. In his latest novel, Flags on the Bayou (Atlantic
Monthly Press), Civil War-era Louisiana provides the turbulent backdrop for a
murder accusation, skirmishes, blossoming love, and the specter of a storm over
the Gulf." - Garden & GunPraise for James Lee Burke: "James Lee Burke is the reigning champ of nostalgia noir." -
New York Times Book Review "You can always count on Burke to deliver a white-hot
page-turner." --AARP Magazine "Burke's evocative prose remains a
thing of reliably fierce wonder." --Entertainment Weekly "One of the finest novelists in North America." --Margaret
Cannon, Globe and Mail "James Lee Burke is one of a small handful of elite suspense
writers whose work transcends the genre, making the leap into capital-L
Literature." --Bookpage
