Lena

Florida Folk Magic #3

by Malcolm R. Campbell

When Police Chief Alton Gravely and Officer Carothers escalate the feud between “Torreya’s finest” and conjure woman Eulalie Jenkins by running her off the road into a north Florida swamp, the borrowed pickup truck is salvaged but Eulalie is missing and presumed dead. Her cat Lena survives. Lena could provide an accurate account of the crime, but the county sheriff is unlikely to interview a pet.

Lena doesn’t think Eulalie is dead, but the conjure woman’s family and friends don’t believe her. Eulalie’s daughter Adelaide wants to stir things up, and the church deacon wants everyone to stay out of sight. There’s talk of an eyewitness, but either Adelaide made that up to worry the police, or the witness is too scared to come forward.

When the feared Black Robes of the Klan attack the first responder who believes the wreck might have been staged, Lena is the only one who can help him try to fight them off. After that, all hope seems lost, because if Eulalie is alive and finds her way back to Torreya, there are plenty of people waiting to kill her and make sure she stays dead.

Genres: Fiction

152 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2018

About the author

Author of "Conjure Woman's Cat," a 1950s-era novella set in the Florida Panhandle. The first three chapters of this book have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. The book has two sequels, "Eulalie and Washerwoman" and "Lena."

Campbell is also the author of "Sarabande," "The Sun Singer," and "Sarabande."

I've lived in north Georgia since 1977.
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Reviews

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lena by Malcolm R. Campbell

I have been looking forward to this book. At the end of “Eulalie and Washerwoman” Eulalie was leaving to fetch Willie back home. They’ve had a long-standing relationship and Eulalie was ready to take it to the next level. Being a romantic at heart I was ready for this relationship to move forward. So, what does Mr. Campbell do? He puts Eulalie in peril! Which in turn kept me reading late into the night.

Thank goodness Lena survived the wreck into the swamp, but Eulalie is missing and feared dead. Fortunately Eulalie’s daughter Adelaide has some of her mama’s conjure ability. However, she is a little too head-strong and undisciplined. Pollyanna, is a new character with a lot of spit-fire and potential. I really liked her and can’t wait to see more of her. And I really want to know who her father is.

The plot twists really shouldn’t surprise me. The town of Torreya is full of high-positioned men who secretly belong to the KKK. They are cruel, evil, and easy to hate. Towards the end of the book Joe Moore, the local raccoon, scared the bejeezus out of me with his prophesy to Lena about the coming day. After my heart started beating again, and the tense cluster... uhhh... a mess of a climax. I was completely satisfied and it left me with a smile on my face.
My favorite sentence in this story:
“Like a conjure woman, the good Lord does his work with the materials at hand,”

FYI: “Lena” is the third book in Mr. Campbell’s Florida Folk Magic Stories. Following “Conjure Woman’s Cat,” and “Eulalie and Washerwoman.” Please be aware the language is not always politically correct, however it is true to the era. **Originally written for "BigAl’s Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy.** August 29, 2018
Format/Typo Issues: A small number of proofing errors, nothing that threw me out of the story.

[Judi Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

So glad finally to have got around to consuming this third part of Campbell’s magic realism trilogy. I have been looking forward to it for ages.

Like the first two books, it is set in the Florida Panhandle, where Jesus co-exists happily with haints and hexes. This time the story rests with the ‘sweet kitty’, Lena, her conjure woman Eulalie being … indisposed.

The local police intend to kill Eulalie and stop her meddling with their illegal schemes. But she is a very powerful conjure woman, so Lena believes there is just a chance Eulalie may have survived their efforts to murder her. Meanwhile, it is a dark time for anyone who tries to speak truth to power, and increasingly evil deeds are done by those who should uphold the law – all observed by Lena. Events are, indeed, pushed and pulled into shape by Lena in ways that will be familiar to anyone who has ever been manipulated by a cat.

It has to be said that the cat narrator stretches credulity in places, and sometimes leads to a little muddle about point of view. But this is magic realism, and there’s a lot going on in this short book, so stick with it and enjoy the ride.

If you haven’t come across this series of three short books before then do start at the beginning. They are now issued as a complete set which you can find under the title ‘Florida Folk Magic Stories’. If you like magic realism and/or tales of the Deep South in the USA (with the Ku Klux Klan an’ all) you will certainly enjoy these well-written little volumes, full of intrigue, clever critturs (perhaps unsurprisingly, Joe Moore is my hero) and comeuppances. You can safely invest in the box set.

[Csimplot Simplot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book!

[Kimberly-Dawn Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the Third book in a series and since I didn't read the first 2 I did feel a bit lost at times. A cat, a conjurer and detective did make quite the interesting combination in Florida. I listened to this book in Audible and the narrator was excellent.

I would recommend this book but start at the beginning to get the most out of this series