The Delta Ladies

by Fern Michaels

The “imaginative” ( Booklist ) #1 New York Times bestseller praised for her “real and endearing” characters ( Los Angeles Times ), rekindles our romance with this enchanting classic novel in which a man reunites with two long lost loves in his small southern hometown—and discovers some passions never die out.

Cader Harris shook the dust of Hayden, Louisiana from his feet eighteen years ago, aided by his football prowess, his movie-star good looks—and most of all by a handsome payoff from Foster Doyle Hayden, who thought that Cader wasn’t good enough for his daughter, Irene.

When Irene married someone else and too few months later gave birth, Cader was shocked. He kept his side of the bargain, but now a secret oil deal gives him an excuse to see his son and the tempestuous woman he should have claimed long ago.

But before Irene there was Sunday Waters, who gave Cader her heart and soul. Then Irene snapped her fingers and Cader came running. Now Cader will discover how much can change when girls become women…and that sometimes a dwindling fire can reignite a blaze hotter than before.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Fiction

336 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 1980

About the author

Fern Michaels isn’t a person. I’m not sure she’s an entity either since an entity is something with separate existence. Fern Michaels® is what I DO. Me, Mary Ruth Kuczkir. Growing up in Hastings, Pennsylvania, I was called Ruth. I became Mary when I entered the business world where first names were the order of the day. To this day, family and friends call me Dink, a name my father gave me when I was born because according to him I was ‘a dinky little thing’ weighing in at four and a half pounds. However, I answer to Fern since people are more comfortable with a name they can pronounce.

As they say, the past is prologue. I grew up, got a job, got married, had five kids. When my youngest went off to Kindergarten, my husband told me to get off my ass and get a job. Those were his exact words. I didn’t know how to do anything except be a wife and mother. I was also a voracious reader having cut my teeth on The Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Cherry Ames and the like. The library was a magical place for me. It still is to this day. Rather than face the outside world with no skills, I decided to write a book. For some reason that didn’t intimidate me. As my husband said at the time, stupid is as stupid does. Guess what, I don’t have that husband any more. Guess what else! I wrote 99 books, most of them New York Times Best Sellers.

Moving right along here . . . Several years ago I left Ballantine Books, parted company with my agent, sold my house in New Jersey that I had lived in all my married life and in 1993 moved to South Carolina. I figured if I was going to go through trauma let it be all at one time. It was a breeze. The kids were all on their own at that point. The dump was a 300 year old plantation house that is listed in the National Registry that I remodeled. Today it is beyond belief as are the gardens and the equally old Angel Oaks that drip Spanish moss. Unfortunately, I could not get my ghost to relocate. This ghost has been documented by previous owners. Mary Margaret as we call her, is “a friendly”. She is also mischievous. It took me two weeks to figure out that she didn’t like my coffee cups. They would slide off the table or counter or else they’d break in the dishwasher. I bought red checkered ones. All are intact as of this writing. She moves pillows from one room to the other and she stops all the clocks in the house at 9:10 in the a.m. at least once a week. When the Azaleas are in bloom, and only then, I find blooms on my night stand. I have this glorious front porch and during the warm months I see my swing moving early in the morning when the air is still and again late in the day. She doesn’t spook the dogs. I always know when she’s around because the five of them line up and look like they’re at a tennis match. As of this writing we’re co-habiting nicely.

Most writers love what they do and I’m no exception. I love it when I get a germ of an idea and get it down on paper. I love breathing life into my characters. I love writing about women who persevere and prevail because that’s what I had to do to get to this point in time. It’s another way of saying it doesn’t matter where you’ve been, what matters is where you’re going and how you get there. The day I finally prevailed was the day I was inducted into the New Jersey Literary Hall of Fame. For me it was an awesome day and there are no words to describe it.
I’ve been telling stories and scribbling for 37 years. I hope I can continue for another 37 years. It wasn’t easy during some of those years. As I said, I had to persevere. My old Polish grandmother said something to me when I was little that I never forgot. She said when God is good to you, you have to give back. For a while I didn’t know how to do that. When I finally figured it out I set up The Fern Michaels® Foundation.

READ FERN MICHAELS' FULL BIOGRAPHY HERE: http://www.fernmichaels.com/biography/

Reviews

[Krystina Schuler · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a hard time with this book. I didn't like Cader. At no point did I ever feel like he loved anyone but himself. There was very little development at all of the relationship between Cader and Sunday, which was supposed to be the main love line in this book. The rest of the characters were annoying and unlikeable. There was an incest subplot between two of the teens in the book which just turned me off entirely. Finally, while this book takes place in the very early 80s in the deep South, the racism was also off-putting. This was simply a miss for me.

[Kristi Canode · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not like any other Fern Michael's book I gave read. Not for me

[Ahaji668 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dated..... even I had read this when it was originally published in 1980, I would have thought it was racist, misogynistic, treated characters as stereotypes and just plain drivel...

[James Garman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book would hardly be considered great literature. It is a sort of romance with twists and turns.It asks the questions, what makes family, and what happens when a person goes back to their former home town to get revenge, and instead learns a lot about themselves.

Ms Michaels writes an interesting story about a small town in Louisiana down close to the gulf, which is what drew me to this particular. While I expected more regional feel to it, it turned out that the small town could have been anywhere, but maybe that is the nature of small towns.

At one point someone refers to the town as "a Peyton Place" and that is just what it is. The aristocracy is not who they pretend to be, and the rest of town ignores a lot.

[Jeanne Benedict · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cader Harris had left Hayden, Louisiana almost 2 decades ago, as he was pursuing his dream on the football field. And not many knew that Foster Doyle Hayden, had paid Cader off, to leave his daughter, Irene.

Cader finds out that Irene is married, and shortly after her marriage, had a baby, and that shocked him. Cader comes back to town, opening up a sporting goods store, but that is only a cover for his "secret" oil deal.

Upon his return to Hayden, Cader is being pursued heavily, by Sunday Waters, another person in town, who like Cader, grew up on the "wrong side of the tracks" in the minds of many town people. Which woman will be the one to win the battle over Cader? Who is the love of his life now?

[Adeline Kam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, this book is a different side of Fern Michaels' writing. I am amazed and surprised she has written this. So different from her other books. The storyline is just different, interesting and keeps you turning the pages. But being a Christian, I am not liking and feeling comfortable that she uses the Lord's name in vain so many times (I skipped this part when the Lord's name is written). Maybe she should cut this out....and I definitely felt a little disturbed towards the end when there are some suicides taking place. Perhaps the ending could be different without the suicides? But overall, this is an interesting read.....very different from her other books.

[Denise West · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was ok. It definitely was not a typical Fern Michaels style book. A lot of self absorbed characters. The character Beth was a bit out there. A spoiled brat is one thing but the fascination with her brother was just eww! The story kinda bounced around and left some unfinished things. Certainly not what I expected.

[Heather Endecott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not one of my faves but it was still a good read.

[Denise Sawyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you are looking for a book about sex - then this is right up your alley. I thought that the story line was pretty weak. And I didn't like any of the characters.

[Saraj Goldberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love fern Michaels but this is my least favorite book

[Fabienne · Rating 1 out of 5]

What did I just read? I don't even know which character I was supposed to like. I didn't like any of them...at all.

[Shirley]

Didn’t like

[Kristin Thomas · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very depressing and so slow! I read 3 1/2 chapters and then just skipped to the last chapter. I never do that!

[Kaitlyn Vaden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining for sure! Probably one of my favorite of hers!

[Boo Boo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not a bad read, but I felt it was not like other books by Fern that I have read. There were some parts of this book that I really did not enjoy. Some of the plot lines made the story less enjoyable, and in some ways unpleasant to read. One story line in particular regarding two teenage siblings was beyond uncomfortable and a little disgusting. I just personally felt as if she may have taken it a tad bit too far in this story. I love every other book I have read from her so I do not think i'll let it distract me from reading her other books still, but this definitely crossed the lines in many ways. Even if you take that particular plot line out of the story I felt that a lot of the main characters fell flat in this story. I do hope her next one is an improvement.

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eighteen years ago Cader Harris was paid to leave Hayden. He was guaranteed a monthly check, a new car and tuition as long as he stayed away from Hayden, but now he is back. To most of the town it is a secret why he left, he did become a professional football player. To all of the town it is a secret why he has returned, at least no one from town truly believes it is to open a sporting goods store. What will Cader learn when he returns, who will be his friends and who will remain or become his enemies. Will his secrets help or hurt him.

[Jeannie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have to admit that I throw in a romance or two every once in a while. I find them to be easy, fast, non-thinking reading. I particularly love the historicals, so with my active imagination I can escape to the castles of old. I probably wouldn't rate any of the romance's that I have read, because (sorry) I think they are all about the same. But I have to be on record to say I hated this book. It was pretty disturbing and twisted.

[Beverly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Quite disappointed in this book. I've read almost everything Fern Michaels has written and enjoyed the majority of them very much. This is only the second one I truly didn't like. It's one of her earlier books and she has improved her writing style immensely. This book is filled with entirely too much foul language (of the worst kind) and explicit sex. If I had read this book first, I never would have read another Fern Michaels work.

[Laura Beasley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a big fan of Fern Michaels but this is not one of her better books. There are so many characters in this story and most of them I did not care for at all. They were mostly self centered and sneaky and too social conscious. Could tell this book was written years ago because several things were said in the book that would not be acceptable today. There were too many stories going on at once.
Too many stories lines to try to even talk about.

[Lauren · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wouldn't recommend this book at all. There were about 12 characters and none we likable. I was actually mad throughout the entire book. Having read Fern Michaels in the past I was disappointed by this book.

[Amber · Rating 1 out of 5]

Possibly one of the worst books I have ever read. I don't even know what Fern was thinking. I had such high hopes and it turned out to be a train wreck. Will definitely give this book away immediately to get it out of my life.

[Dawn · Rating 1 out of 5]

just could not find a character to like in this book. Usually her books are a nice easy read but I just could not connect with a character to really care if anyone lived/died/loved or anything else. Found it a painful read

[BARBARA · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will stir your emotions. You will identify with how things change, while they try to stay the same. You wonder how some think one thing is normal and the rest of us know its not right. Very enjoyable.

[Agnes Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

The people in this book were all too human--frail, foolish and self-destructive. But by making us look at the unvarnished truth of those characters, perhaps we look a little more closely at who we are and what we do. But this was not my favorite kind of book.

[Debbie]

I am still reading this book. This is the book I take to bed with me so it will take a while to finish it.

[Doti · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sex thrown in for sensationalism; characters inconsistent.

[Sue · Rating 1 out of 5]

I actually couldn't get through this one.

[Pat Baratta · Rating 3 out of 5]

She goes on and on writing.

[Lanee · Rating 3 out of 5]

fair

[Stacey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Needed an easy read and this wasn't it. Too many characters. Jumps around. None of the characters are like-able. None. Too crude and raunchy.