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The Scarlet Thread
Two long-lost sisters lose their hearts to the same man in 19th-century New Orleans in a novel of the twists and turns of fate from “a master storyteller” (Romantic Times).
In the city of New Orleans, Desirée La Fleur, a dark-haired Creole beauty, arrives with the purpose to help the “Sisters of Sin,” the fallen women whose lives begin and end on a street in the red-light district known as the Scarlet Thread.
But deep inside Desirée, hiding just beneath the veil of purity, is a forbidden desire for a man who doesn’t want a wife. Armed with unwavering determination and proud innocence, Desirée will soon find herself in a world as enticing at it is dangerous—one that will reunite her with the sister she thought she’d never see again . . .
In the city of New Orleans, Desirée La Fleur, a dark-haired Creole beauty, arrives with the purpose to help the “Sisters of Sin,” the fallen women whose lives begin and end on a street in the red-light district known as the Scarlet Thread.
But deep inside Desirée, hiding just beneath the veil of purity, is a forbidden desire for a man who doesn’t want a wife. Armed with unwavering determination and proud innocence, Desirée will soon find herself in a world as enticing at it is dangerous—one that will reunite her with the sister she thought she’d never see again . . .
- GenresHistorical Romance
396 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 30, 1989
About the author
Becky Lee Weyrich
28 books18 followersAs an author for Loveswept, Becky Lee Weyrich published one romance novel.
She began publishing fiction in 1978. She has written for various publishers in a variety of genres, including historical romance, fantasy, saga, Gothic, horror/mystery, contemporary and time travel.
In 1991, she won Romantic Times magazine's Lifetime Achievement Award for New Age Fiction 1992, awarded the Certificate of Excellence in Career Achievement in Historical Fantasy and Reviewers' Choice Certificate of Excellence for "Sweet Forever" (Pinnacle Books, May 1992). Beginning as a nonfiction writer in 1960, she did freelance work for several newspapers and magazines. She also wrote and illustrated two of poetry before turning full time to fiction.
A member of Romance Writers of America and a board member of Southeastern Writers' Association, Weyrich is the originator of the Becky Lee Weyrich Fiction Award, presented annually at the Southeastern Writers' Workshop on St. Simons Island, Georgia.
After roaming the world as a Navy wife, the Georgia-born author now resides in a vintage beach cottage on St. Simons Island with her husband. Her hobbies include golf, beachcombing, cruises to exotic shores, and collecting Victorian antiques.
She began publishing fiction in 1978. She has written for various publishers in a variety of genres, including historical romance, fantasy, saga, Gothic, horror/mystery, contemporary and time travel.
In 1991, she won Romantic Times magazine's Lifetime Achievement Award for New Age Fiction 1992, awarded the Certificate of Excellence in Career Achievement in Historical Fantasy and Reviewers' Choice Certificate of Excellence for "Sweet Forever" (Pinnacle Books, May 1992). Beginning as a nonfiction writer in 1960, she did freelance work for several newspapers and magazines. She also wrote and illustrated two of poetry before turning full time to fiction.
A member of Romance Writers of America and a board member of Southeastern Writers' Association, Weyrich is the originator of the Becky Lee Weyrich Fiction Award, presented annually at the Southeastern Writers' Workshop on St. Simons Island, Georgia.
After roaming the world as a Navy wife, the Georgia-born author now resides in a vintage beach cottage on St. Simons Island with her husband. Her hobbies include golf, beachcombing, cruises to exotic shores, and collecting Victorian antiques.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 22, 2015
The “red lantern” district of New Orleans in the Victorian Era… oh my!
Having read and loved Tainted Lillies, I was anxious to read another by Weyrich.
This is the story of Desiree La Fleur. It begins in 1885 when she is seven and her mulatto nurse flees Desiree’s drunken father with Desiree and her infant sister, Innocente. In the swamps they become separated and Desiree is recaptured by her father’s men. We don’t learn much of her youth after that except she is taken home and though she has a stepmother who has no love for her, Desiree is educated in the East. In 1899, when she is 21, she decides to take the money she gained from a writing contest and join her best friend, Nanine, in New Orleans.
As soon as she gets off the train, Desiree is mistaken for a woman named “Garnet” who, she later learns, is a prostitute living in “Storyville,” the red lantern district of New Orleans. It’s “the scarlet thread” on Basin Street. Right then I realized, even if Desiree did not, that she’d found her long lost sister.
Meanwhile Nanine plots to match Desiree with Dr. Roman St. Vincent, dubbed “the saint of Storyville” for the help he gives to the young prostitutes. And the prostitute named Garnet is in love with him. Two sisters both in love with the same man. Because of their beginnings, one is ostensibly good and the other a fallen woman, raised to believe she is a woman of color when she is not.
Neither Desiree nor Roman want marriage but decide, at their early encounter, to pretend they are engaged to appease Nanine and her husband in whose home Desiree lives.
Weyrich writes well and tells a good story so, of course, I was sucked in from the start. There were lots of improbable twists and turns but once I got over that, I had to find out if this smart girl was really going to be so dumb as to do some of the things she did. And what of Garnet who really loves Roman but who he thinks of as a young sister? And then there is this “ripper” guy who goes around killing prostitutes. Ah, yes, lots to think about. And did I mention it’s a bodice ripper?
Having read and loved Tainted Lillies, I was anxious to read another by Weyrich.
This is the story of Desiree La Fleur. It begins in 1885 when she is seven and her mulatto nurse flees Desiree’s drunken father with Desiree and her infant sister, Innocente. In the swamps they become separated and Desiree is recaptured by her father’s men. We don’t learn much of her youth after that except she is taken home and though she has a stepmother who has no love for her, Desiree is educated in the East. In 1899, when she is 21, she decides to take the money she gained from a writing contest and join her best friend, Nanine, in New Orleans.
As soon as she gets off the train, Desiree is mistaken for a woman named “Garnet” who, she later learns, is a prostitute living in “Storyville,” the red lantern district of New Orleans. It’s “the scarlet thread” on Basin Street. Right then I realized, even if Desiree did not, that she’d found her long lost sister.
Meanwhile Nanine plots to match Desiree with Dr. Roman St. Vincent, dubbed “the saint of Storyville” for the help he gives to the young prostitutes. And the prostitute named Garnet is in love with him. Two sisters both in love with the same man. Because of their beginnings, one is ostensibly good and the other a fallen woman, raised to believe she is a woman of color when she is not.
Neither Desiree nor Roman want marriage but decide, at their early encounter, to pretend they are engaged to appease Nanine and her husband in whose home Desiree lives.
Weyrich writes well and tells a good story so, of course, I was sucked in from the start. There were lots of improbable twists and turns but once I got over that, I had to find out if this smart girl was really going to be so dumb as to do some of the things she did. And what of Garnet who really loves Roman but who he thinks of as a young sister? And then there is this “ripper” guy who goes around killing prostitutes. Ah, yes, lots to think about. And did I mention it’s a bodice ripper?
Displaying 1 of 1 review