The View from Rampart Street

by Mary Lou Widmer

In sultry, tempestuous New Orleans of the 1840s, the frontier port was bustling, the theater was all the rage, and a system called placage ruled the lives of beautiful young Quadroons. These lovely girls were the daughters of wealthy white Creoles and their mulatto mistresses, trained all their lives to be placees, mistresses of white Creole gentlemen. In return for their favors, the placees were each given a house on Rampart Street, furnishings, and a life of luxury. Forced into this decadent but respected system, Mariette Delon, a beautiful Quadroon with skin like a magnolia petal, rebels against it, wishing only to pursue a career in the theater and lead a moral life. Against her will, she attends the Quadroon Ball, where such alliances are arranged and contracts signed. Here she meets handsome young Philippe Grillet, a wealthy aristocrat who tells her she should not be a placee but the wife of a Creole, reinforcing her innermost desires. But her father has his own plans for her, and it is up to Philippe to save her, first by accepting a life-threatening challenge, and finally by pursuing her across the continent to claim her for his own. Only then is he rewarded with a gift more precious than gold. Mary Lou Widmer is an author, former teacher, and historian. She has been published twelve times in both the fiction and non-fiction fields. Among her novels are Night Jasmine and Lace Curtain. Publisher's website: www.eloquentbooks.com/TheViewFromRamp...

495 pages, Hardcover

First published December 22, 2009

About the author

I am a native of New Orleans, graduate of Loyola University,author of 12 published books, fiction & non-fiction, historian, former teacher, mother of two, grandmother of four.

Reviews

[Billy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mariette Delon, born into a world where she is a bargaining chip in her father's ambitions, takes her future into her hands by establishing a career for herself in the theatre and by steadfastly holding on to her love for a suitor New Orleans in the 1840s won't let her be with. The story that unfolds is expertly told, marrying history and romance with compelling, headstrong characters.

[Tcouret · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved Night Jasmine. I only liked this book. I don't like when the author keeps characters apart only for the sake of keeping them apart. There was no real reason for the two main characters to be apart for the last part of the book (the last year) or I didn't buy the reason.

[Aimée · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not Night Jasmine, but it was good enough.