The back cover of What The Bayou Saw: "Since leaving Louisiana, Sally Stevens has held her childhood secrets at bay, smothering them in a sunny disposition and sugar-coated lies. No one, not even her husband, Sam, has heard the truth about what happened when she was almost twelve years old.
Now a teacher in Illinois, Sally has nearly forgotten the past. But when on of her students is violently attacked, Sally's memories of segregation, a chain-link fence, and a blood oath bubble to the surface like a dead body in a bayou. Lies continue to tumble from Sally's lips as she scrambles to gloss over harsh reality. Finally cornered by her deceit and nudged by the Holy Spirit, she resolves to face the truth, whatever the consequences."
In her second novel, Patty Lacy has taken on several difficult subjects and delivered a provocative and engaging story involving the reader emotionally with the complex characters she has created. The haunting cover art immediately hints that this will be a story that will stick with you long after the last words are devoured. While I didn't grow up in the South, I did experience the years of racial conflict from a Midwesterner's point of view. Lacy nails the attitudes of the era as she looks back on the complex relationships of the times. In her character, Sally, Lacy continues a haunting theme as she is affected emotionally and spiritually by what happened in the bayou.
For me this was a much anticipated read. I loved Patti Lacy's first book, An Irishwoman's Tale, and expected What The Bayou Saw to be another delicious foray into wonderful prose. I was not disappointed.
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