Moderator---Kathy
Meet Charlie Bordelon, a widow with an 11 year old daughter, Micah. The story opens with her driving from California to Louisiana to take over the 800 acre sugarcane farm her dad left her. She's a California girl who now will make or break herself in the farming world as per her inheritance conditions.
A full cast of characters show up throughout the pages. There is Miss Honey, her grandmother, Ralph Angel, her half-brother along with his son Blue and Prosper Denton who turns into her best bet at making the sugarcane farm a success. Ralph Angel, who received nothing from their dead father, proves to be an obstacle. A man called Hollywood (and 'hooray for Hollywood') wanted to be Charlie's special someone but she has another in mind. There are family gatherings featuring lots of great food, a traiteur (healer) in the woods, a Queen Sugar and a valuable statue called The Cane Cutter. You feel the struggle Charlie has trying to make the sugarcane farm profitable considering she has no background in the business and is a young black woman competing in a white man's world which makes it twice as hard. Race relations are a part of the story.
The introduction to sugarcane farming is thorough. From the costs, to the workers, to the weather, to the weeding--you get a full sense of the work that goes into getting out this one crop. You realize how dependent the results are to how well your machinery works and what it costs to replace parts and even an entire machine.
The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) premiered a series based on the book in 2016. It was renewed for a 4th season in August of 2018. For fans of the novel wishing to see the story played out on the small screen, there may be disappointment, confusion or perhaps gratitude that the story has been extended. The series has 3 siblings in the picture. It starts with Charlie married to a wealthy basketball player and a scandal. Her child, Micah, is now a boy. There are additional characters and plot changes to keep the TV series moving.
Creole Cuisine
Fried chicken with dirty rice and corn
muffins plus pecan pie.
"Descriptive passages but weakly drawn
characters and dialog."---Kathy 👍🏻👎🏻
"Hot mess--more questions than
answers."---Dee Dee 👎🏻
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