| …Dru could barely say a word. It was all too strange. The visit was turning out so differently than she had expected. She wondered what her grandmother was up to, what she had said to Giles when she left the room to help Sal, whether it was all some kind of diabolical plan to destroy her relationship with Giles. “In a take-off of Southern gothic myth, intrigue and romance, J. Christian Enochs has written a work that combines all the strangest elements of the genre: part Tennessee Williams, Harper Lee, and Katherine Anne Porter - with just a dose of Anne Rice thrown in for good measure—The Last Beaufort is destined to be a New Orleans and Southern Classic.”—Garry Boulard, author Huey Long Invades New Orleans—The Siege of a City, 1934-36 “…Each chapter added layers of intrigue to the rich, sophisticated plot, and I found myself caring deeply about the characters. I became completely captivated with the author's descriptions of a very particular Southern experience. The novel made me feel as if I'd been given privileged glimpses into a secret society. …Readers are going to have a great time.”——Tom Uskali, Louisiana Cultural Vistas 'J. Christian Enochs steers a witty course between Edith Wharton and John Kennedy Toole as he explores the foibles of the upper class New Orleans beau monde, from a matron's snake-filled refrigerator to acidulous repartee at society gatherings. Not since Shirley Ann Grau's The House on Coliseum Street has so clear a mirror been held to the face of Uptown New Orleans. Beautiful people, a decayed family manse, secret hurt, webs of magic, The Last Beaufort is a piquant comedy of manners that has it all.'—Franklin Daugherty, author Isle of Joy
A family curse hangs over a young woman about to be married in New Orleans. If Dru had her druthers, she and Giles would run off and quietly elope, but she knows how much a lavish society wedding means to Giles's mother and grandmother. During the last days of the wedding preparations, Dru and a friend visit a psychic. When the fortune-teller attempts to look into Dru's past, she senses great pain and encounters a dark energy that chases her away. Dru tries to put the spooky meeting out of her mind, and the wedding goes off without a hitch. During the honeymoon, however, Dru becomes pregnant, putting the curse to the test and eventually revealing the family secret it was meant to hide. Enochs executes the narrative admirably, adding imaginative twists and deftly layering intrigue upon intrigue. Kirkus Discoveries |
