Just Jennifer

The Gates of Evangeline by Hester Young (Putnam)

Lawrenceville, New Jersey’s Hester Young’s debut novel is an old-fashioned Southern gothic epic complete with a secretive family, a mansion draped in moss and a heroine who is a stranger more than she realizes.  Charlotte “Charlie” Cates is still reeling from the death of her toddler son.  As she slowly reemerges into the world she realizes her glamourous job at Sophisticate magazine may no longer be the right fit for her and agrees to take a freelance job with her former true crime magazine.  As Charlie prepares for her trip to Louisiana where she will write the story of the Deveau family and their home Evangeline, she begins having dreams of children---mostly missing children---and can’t decide is this a gift of a curse, especially as she can tell what happened to the children before it is known publicly.  Most vividly and recurring is the dream of a young boy in a boat, the boy who may just be the Deveau boy who disappeared as a toddler thirty years ago.  The further Charlie delves into the Deveau family history, the more questions she uncovers.  Full of secretive jealous adult children, an odd caretaker and a dying matriarch, Evangeline also possesses a sort of magic, the kind that if she will allow it, will help heal Charlie and set her on a new path in life.

Full of Southern atmosphere and mystery, the humidity fairly drips off each page.  As each mystery is uncovered, a new twist develops until, in an almost exhaustive manner, all is revealed.  Not everything will be a surprise and some of the pieces may not seem to fit at first, but once the kaleidoscope stops, everything will fall into place, not only for Charlie, but for the reader as well.