DESIREE’S DAUGHTER

In Martinez’s New Orleans-set historical novel, secret lineages lead to heartbreak and new beginnings.

It is New Year’s Eve 1834, and Madame Desiree Marie de Valcourt regrets that she has agreed to attend her friend’s elaborate celebration. Her husband died several years ago, but given how controlling and cruel he was, it was not a great loss. With his death, she reclaimed her wealth and sense of self, but now the young widow is desolate; just recently, cholera claimed the life of her young daughter. Now, Desiree has no interest in social interaction. She leaves the party before midnight. Arriving at her front gate, she sees a basket tucked into the foliage—inside is a beautiful 1-year-old baby. There is no message or identification. Desiree vows to raise the infant on her own. She has the child christened Colette Francoise de Valcourt, and the following years are filled with joy as Colette grows into a beautiful, refined, and educated young woman. The only wrinkle in Colette’s perfect life is that she knows nothing about her biological lineage, and she is aware of the whispers behind her back. Still, after her spectacular gala debut, she is surrounded by many eager, eligible suitors. One captures her heart: the charming, mysterious, wealthy heir of the Crescent Plantation, Armand Baptiste Quevillon (“His mysterious aura and sophisticated demeanor intrigued her like a puzzle waiting to be solved”). After Colette moves to the plantation, readers meet the magnetic Rene Crozat, a biracial freed enslaved person and veterinarian, whom Armand has banned from the property; Rene’s backstory adds an extra dimension to what becomes a classic good vs. evil morality play. The author deftly employs character development and narrative complexity to produce a sturdy indictment of the era’s institutionalized subjugation of women and bestial treatment of Black people. Though the elaborate descriptions of fashion and decor are occasionally too effusive, and the treatment of suffocating behavioral restrictions a bit overwrought, Martinez’s simply composed prose bursts with vibrant colors, and he vividly captures the ethnically diverse and exotic atmospherics of New Orleans.

A poignant and chilling drama with intriguing twists.