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The Levee
A riveting first novel, this jambalaya of human passion and deceit is set in the New Orleans of l953. The story of one man's attempt to change a culture rooted in generations of Southern white supremacy, it is a saga of the Old and the New South, of love and betrayal, terror and escape.
Fletcher and Ursula Christian are glamorous leaders of New Orleans Society. Asked to develop a pilot program to admit Negro students, Fletcher, a department chair at prestigious Lemoigne University, accepts the challenge. He hires the wife of a new faculty member to assist him. When Fletcher's program is headlined after a press conference, his aristocratic Southern wife is outraged and secretly mobilizes powerful political and social forces to block Fletcher's attempt to integrate.
Through a jasmine-heavy summer into the flame-filled fall, Fletcher and Ursula pursue conflicting goals until a series of devastating events brings them into a final confrontation, a confrontation between the future and the past, between two players at odds in a rich and deep culture.
Fletcher and Ursula Christian are glamorous leaders of New Orleans Society. Asked to develop a pilot program to admit Negro students, Fletcher, a department chair at prestigious Lemoigne University, accepts the challenge. He hires the wife of a new faculty member to assist him. When Fletcher's program is headlined after a press conference, his aristocratic Southern wife is outraged and secretly mobilizes powerful political and social forces to block Fletcher's attempt to integrate.
Through a jasmine-heavy summer into the flame-filled fall, Fletcher and Ursula pursue conflicting goals until a series of devastating events brings them into a final confrontation, a confrontation between the future and the past, between two players at odds in a rich and deep culture.
374 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 12, 2013
2 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer Sullivan
32 books6 followersJennifer Sullivan is a poet from Akron, Ohio. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Barn Owl Review, DIAGRAM, Harpur Palate, New York Quarterly, Nimrod, and Wicked Alice, among others. Jennifer received an MFA in poetry from the Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts Program (NEOMFA) in May, 2008.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 23, 2020
Riveting
This is a keeper in any ones library. I sorrowed, felt anger, and grieved for what could have been. I am pleased integration finally won out. Please keep in writing.
This is a keeper in any ones library. I sorrowed, felt anger, and grieved for what could have been. I am pleased integration finally won out. Please keep in writing.
July 7, 2014
Set in New Orleans in 1953, The Levee tells of people caught up in the racial tensions of that time. The plot focuses on two white couples, each individual with a somewhat different "take" on the issues around race - from practical disinterest through a thirst for change to vehement "Old South."
The story is beautifully written, the settings and characters well-drawn and believable. It's a great picture of "how it was," and leaves one wondering if and how much things have changed.
The story is beautifully written, the settings and characters well-drawn and believable. It's a great picture of "how it was," and leaves one wondering if and how much things have changed.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews