NIGHT LIGHT

by Marie Bardos ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 23, 1964

The Louisiana Cajun country, with its steamy, swampy, old world air, is the cadre for an elaborate melodrama often bogged down by the mongrel French-English dialect and the grandiloquent Southern politesse. Alcoholic Adele Creighton is planning to divorce her lawyer husband, Frank, who is himself on the way up in local politics. Needing her money and afraid of the scandal of a divorce, Frank hires the sheriff and a Negro heavy to dispose of her. A first attempt fails, and the second injures Frank accidentally. A young Negro hadyman is blamed and the mystery is as involved as the Louisiana social code-- Adele's weakness, Frank's sly strength, and the spectre of success. Indeed- the characterization is consistent and much of it is expertly enigmatic. However the narrative groundcover of Cajun idiom and custom often obscures a complex story to the point of confusion. A suspended sentence here-- unusual but trying.

Pub Date: Oct. 23, 1964

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1964

Categories: FICTION