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Crescent Carnival
Book by Frances Parkinson Keyes
Paperback
First published January 1, 1942
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279 people want to read
About the author
Frances Parkinson Keyes
143 books93 followersFrances Parkinson Keyes was an American author who wrote about her life as the wife of a U.S. Senator and novels set in New England, Louisiana, and Europe. A convert to Roman Catholicism, her later works frequently featured Catholic themes and beliefs. Her last name rhymes with "skies," not "keys."
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
May 29, 2011
I was given this book because New Orleans and its Carnival celebration appear in the story. Surprisingly, this New Orleanian got caught up in the plot and characters as well as the dramatic and meticulous descriptions of New Orleans and its history. Published in the mid-1940s, Crescent Carnival tells the story of three generations of Louisianians – Americans and Creoles – and their search to find happiness in the 1890s, 1910s, and 1940s. Over 60 years, politics and society change, but the men and women still struggle with the same love and loss we know today.
It is a sad book, but not overly depressing. Many of the characters remain strong, albeit deluded sometimes, when faced with difficult choices or challenges. Apart from all the beautiful descriptions of New Orleans and Carnival, it was an emotional rollercoaster! That is the ultimate sign of a good story – moving the reader to an emotion. While reading, I would smile and, then a few pages later, well up with tears. I often became frustrated with some of the characters, thinking “why doesn’t she/he just go for it!” But, the reader must understand that prior to the 1960s, men and women didn’t have the same sort of societal freedoms we have now. Still, the story itself resonates into the modern era. It’s uncanny how familiar it all seems – living up to societal expectations, how difficult it can be to choose love over one’s place, money, or a career, and the affect of politics and war on people. Like the characters, we don’t always follow our hearts. Sometimes doing so kills us, and sometimes taking a chance on a person makes life more meaningful. For the Breckenridges and the women in their lives, it took three generations to figure it all out.
The writing is both charming and detailed, while the dialogue is a little stiff. I’m not sure if that’s because of the era in which it was written or the author’s style. Some phrases and ideology with regard to race are uncomfortable and very dated, but those do reflect the author’s time period, although currently not acceptable or tolerated. That shouldn’t, however, be a deterrent to reading the book. Those instances occur rarely. I simply wanted to warn readers of their presence.
It does have a very Jane Austen feel to it, and I have never read a book where the men so easily and quickly declare their love. What’s most interesting is that New Orleans and the plantation are just as much characters as the people. The settings symbolize different human elements and are remade in the same way the men and women learn from the mistakes of previous generations. Weaving the settings into the storyline as tactile representations of the characters’ arcs takes great skill. I appreciate Ms. Keyes’ ability and plan to read another one of her books.
It is a sad book, but not overly depressing. Many of the characters remain strong, albeit deluded sometimes, when faced with difficult choices or challenges. Apart from all the beautiful descriptions of New Orleans and Carnival, it was an emotional rollercoaster! That is the ultimate sign of a good story – moving the reader to an emotion. While reading, I would smile and, then a few pages later, well up with tears. I often became frustrated with some of the characters, thinking “why doesn’t she/he just go for it!” But, the reader must understand that prior to the 1960s, men and women didn’t have the same sort of societal freedoms we have now. Still, the story itself resonates into the modern era. It’s uncanny how familiar it all seems – living up to societal expectations, how difficult it can be to choose love over one’s place, money, or a career, and the affect of politics and war on people. Like the characters, we don’t always follow our hearts. Sometimes doing so kills us, and sometimes taking a chance on a person makes life more meaningful. For the Breckenridges and the women in their lives, it took three generations to figure it all out.
The writing is both charming and detailed, while the dialogue is a little stiff. I’m not sure if that’s because of the era in which it was written or the author’s style. Some phrases and ideology with regard to race are uncomfortable and very dated, but those do reflect the author’s time period, although currently not acceptable or tolerated. That shouldn’t, however, be a deterrent to reading the book. Those instances occur rarely. I simply wanted to warn readers of their presence.
It does have a very Jane Austen feel to it, and I have never read a book where the men so easily and quickly declare their love. What’s most interesting is that New Orleans and the plantation are just as much characters as the people. The settings symbolize different human elements and are remade in the same way the men and women learn from the mistakes of previous generations. Weaving the settings into the storyline as tactile representations of the characters’ arcs takes great skill. I appreciate Ms. Keyes’ ability and plan to read another one of her books.
May 28, 2011
FRANCIS PARKINSON KEYES… Over the years I've bought and read most of her books, and I've never been disappointed. I can see how some readers might think her writing is slow. That's because she takes time to give rich details of the time period, her settings, and the backgrounds for her plots. Her impeccable research is second to none. But that's not why I love her work so much. What she does best is tell a great story. In the end, that's the difference between her work and that of lesser writers. Some of them have forgotten that first and foremost they are supposed to be story tellers. Ms. Keyes' books stand the test of time, because great writing and story telling will never go out of style. If you have a chance to read any of her novels, don't pass it up. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
She lives for a year in the setting of her novel, gathering background and stories from people in the area, she meets with the owners of the plantations and includes some of their family stories and details of plantation life in her book, she has people who live in the area help her research, she notes the weather, the plants, the animals, the feel of the place and includes it all in her books. Written in the forties, her books see history, but through the lens of the forties, which gives them an added dimension of interest, as attitudes toward many things are so different 50 years later. She is a strong believer in love at first sight, of understanding and devoted wives, which may reflect the forties, but her characters change, have flaws and pay the consequences, grow wiser as they age and have strong values. There are characters that have no values who are foils and contrast to the main character. She follows a family through three generations, and notes the changes in technology, the current events, and the styles for each generation, as well as the consequence of certain choices made by older generations on their posterity. An historical saga that takes you to a different place and another time.
This one tells the history of the Creoles who settled New Orleans and the Americans who came in after the Louisiana Purchase and their clash of culture, language, manners, and religion. It is a great historical novel that is woven around Mardi Gras through the years.
She lives for a year in the setting of her novel, gathering background and stories from people in the area, she meets with the owners of the plantations and includes some of their family stories and details of plantation life in her book, she has people who live in the area help her research, she notes the weather, the plants, the animals, the feel of the place and includes it all in her books. Written in the forties, her books see history, but through the lens of the forties, which gives them an added dimension of interest, as attitudes toward many things are so different 50 years later. She is a strong believer in love at first sight, of understanding and devoted wives, which may reflect the forties, but her characters change, have flaws and pay the consequences, grow wiser as they age and have strong values. There are characters that have no values who are foils and contrast to the main character. She follows a family through three generations, and notes the changes in technology, the current events, and the styles for each generation, as well as the consequence of certain choices made by older generations on their posterity. An historical saga that takes you to a different place and another time.
This one tells the history of the Creoles who settled New Orleans and the Americans who came in after the Louisiana Purchase and their clash of culture, language, manners, and religion. It is a great historical novel that is woven around Mardi Gras through the years.
April 18, 2010
Francis Parkinson Keyes has got to be one of my favorite (Homeschooled, Catholic) authors. She has written much about the American south and the southern way of life. I am always drawn deeply into her (complex) plots. The characters and I know each other well by the end of the book. The last page is always anticipated, longed for, yet once arrived, grieved.
I began Crescent Carnival as the season of Lent arrived. Set in New Orleans, the story spans several generations of southern families. The history and tradition of the Mardi Gras/Carnival Season are explored within the context of this romantic story. Ahhhh…..to sip a Mint Julep from a balcony overlooking the Mississippi.
http://www.neworleansplantationcountr...
http://www.catholicauthors.com/keyes....
I began Crescent Carnival as the season of Lent arrived. Set in New Orleans, the story spans several generations of southern families. The history and tradition of the Mardi Gras/Carnival Season are explored within the context of this romantic story. Ahhhh…..to sip a Mint Julep from a balcony overlooking the Mississippi.
http://www.neworleansplantationcountr...
http://www.catholicauthors.com/keyes....
September 18, 2009
Though I have lived in New Orleans off and on most of my life I learned more about how some of our families lived and more about Carnival and Carnival customs than I ever knew before. I was delighted with the book and have kept the original copy given to me in 1943 all these many years so that I could read it again and again.
April 2, 2016
The dates shown for my having read Crescent Carnival are a little misleading---I've read this book many times over the years and its appeal is always fresh. Set in New Orleans beginning in the 1890s and extending through World War II, the story covers three generations of lovers who are victims of their times because the Creole customs and the Roman Catholic religion that make up the top echelons of New Orleans society make it impossible for the heroine, Estelle Lenoir , to follow her heart. She makes her debut in the 1890s at the time of the annual New Orleans Carnival season that extends from January through Shrove Tuesday, the day preceding Lent. All the attendant Mardi Gras activities provide the backdrop for the ill-fated romance between Estelle and Andrew Breckenridge, a wealthy American who is shunned by Estelle's conservative parents as much for his American ways as for his protestant religion. Estelle's family has planned her marriage to the scion of a prominent Creole family, but Estelle and Andrew fall in love. She tries to resist her parents' plans but is too timid to go against her parents' desires. As Andy Breckenridge later gains much prominence in New Orleans society, Estelle's parents realize too late the advantages the marriage might have brought their family. The second part of the book deals with Andy's and Estelle's children who also meet and fall in love, but Breck Breckenridge is already married when he falls in love with Estelle's daughter Marie Celeste. It is only in the third generation that the grandchildren of Estelle and Andy finally find happiness. The story is rich in historical background and provides insight into life in New Orleans over a span of fifty years. Modern readers will find the treatment of African-Americans and the dialect they speak and the positions they hold at odds with today's integrated society. Nevertheless, the picture is accurate for those times and offers a distant mirror through which we can view America's past in the deep South as those traditions slowly changed. Frances Parkinson Keyes was an acute observer of those times and paints a realistic picture of society that is in a state of transition where family and social values were changing and where the shattering of old values and social classes are giving way to the modern world.
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April 28, 2016Classic Keyes: a woman's only fulfillment in life is marriage, abundant childbirth, and the joy and satisfactions of being the chatelaine of a well run and contented household whether rich or humble.
Of course, this is seldom achieved without hard work, heartbreak or both. And that is the drama and suspense of her books. This novel is full of exhaustive detail on successive generations of women.
The men they love, win and lose. How they run their house, how they socialize and eat, and mostly surmount their difficulties as Great Ladies.
(I believe three women in three generations become nuns due to lost love, which leads them to their true vocations as religious. A little over done, but well done melodrama anyway).
Of course, this is seldom achieved without hard work, heartbreak or both. And that is the drama and suspense of her books. This novel is full of exhaustive detail on successive generations of women.
The men they love, win and lose. How they run their house, how they socialize and eat, and mostly surmount their difficulties as Great Ladies.
(I believe three women in three generations become nuns due to lost love, which leads them to their true vocations as religious. A little over done, but well done melodrama anyway).
July 27, 2009
This may well be her most outstanding novel, following several generations of New Orleans families, some of who are fated to make the same mistakes as their ancestors. Keyes describes an irrestistible bygone world of Mardi Gras balls, Huey Long politics, conflict between Catholics and Protestants, double standards for men and women, in a way that is convincing and enthralling.
The writing seems dated and mannered today but I still recommend this book wholeheartedly for the discerning reader, and gave a copy to a former boss as a goodbye present.
The writing seems dated and mannered today but I still recommend this book wholeheartedly for the discerning reader, and gave a copy to a former boss as a goodbye present.
June 30, 2008
Definitely dated from the perspective of race and gender relations, but for me that just made this epic romance more accurate to its times. It's a sweeping saga across 3 generations of New Orleans creole society. A really lush, beautiful read. Too bad it's no longer in print.
February 28, 2023
FPK was a favourite of an elderly relative which is how I first came to read this book ages ago. I had the vaguest memory of it - just that it was a rattling melodrama - and it called out for a second go on a grey, sad day in winter. The narrative, although weighted with endless detail about three generations of characters intertwined by love, loss and disaster, provides plenty of surprises and enough red herrings to keep you page-turning, not to say abundant information about social codes and customs (so very, very many) of rich, insulated, interconnected New Orleans families, from late 19th C to WW2.
The historical aspect is also reflected in the writer's attitudes to race, gender, society; it's unsurprising her books are not so easy to find now.
If you want lashings of melodrama on a chilly day this could fit the bill - be prepared to immerse yourself and suspend 21st C views in the world of FPK.
The historical aspect is also reflected in the writer's attitudes to race, gender, society; it's unsurprising her books are not so easy to find now.
If you want lashings of melodrama on a chilly day this could fit the bill - be prepared to immerse yourself and suspend 21st C views in the world of FPK.
March 5, 2018
Keyes does it well! Haven't been disappointed with one of her books yet.
A few places the details bogged it down (like multiple pages devoted to the newspaper clipping about how the lottery winnings would be divided--which gave nothing to the story so I skimmed) but overall an epic read.
Rich setting, characters, and emotions. Flawed/haunted characters made me root all the more for the third generation in the last sections of the book.
Beautiful sketches in between the sections, and the floor plans and layout of Splendida plantation was fun to see.
I binge-read the last 250 pages in a day--which was like a book in itself, length-wise. (And cried at least three times, so bonus star for the tears. Love that!)
And the similar themes to my forthcoming Gothic family saga, The Possession Chronicles, reaffirms me I did something right in my multi-generation series.
A few places the details bogged it down (like multiple pages devoted to the newspaper clipping about how the lottery winnings would be divided--which gave nothing to the story so I skimmed) but overall an epic read.
Rich setting, characters, and emotions. Flawed/haunted characters made me root all the more for the third generation in the last sections of the book.
Beautiful sketches in between the sections, and the floor plans and layout of Splendida plantation was fun to see.
I binge-read the last 250 pages in a day--which was like a book in itself, length-wise. (And cried at least three times, so bonus star for the tears. Love that!)
And the similar themes to my forthcoming Gothic family saga, The Possession Chronicles, reaffirms me I did something right in my multi-generation series.
March 16, 2023
I first read this book when I was 17 (many years ago). It was still as good as I remember it being back then. It's long, but there were only a couple of times when I felt a description or passage went on past its effectiveness. I loved being immersed in the Mardi Gras rituals and cultural customs/beliefs of the early days. Historical Fiction at its best!!
October 7, 2021
Good story. Well-drawn characters. And best of all is the amazing house Splendida, which is based on my favorite southern mansion Belle Grove.
June 3, 2013
You have to be a fan of Keyes or a fan of New Orleans to wade through this tome that is over 700 pages long. I'm fans of both, so finished it. Her descriptions, while wordy, are right on target. Even 70 years after it was written, I could picture the places she was describing. The way she interweaves New Orleans/Louisiana traditions and foods into the plot is ingenious and sets the stage very well. As far as the plot, the girls are a little too over-the-top wonderful and people fall into love a bit too quickly. But there were enough twists in the plot to keep you reading. Classic Keyes and a good peek at New Orleans life over a 50 year span.
April 15, 2021
At one time in my slightly mis-spent youth, I thought Mrs. Keyes was just a marvelous author, so intelligent, so cultured, etc. Of course, I was anywhere from 10 to 17 while I held these thoughts. Nevertheless, "Crescent Carnival" is a good read for those who enjoy old-fashioned family sagas with plenty of moralizing thrown in.
February 26, 2011
Liked it, but a little long-winded. Quite an epic story! And unfortunately I was confused with the form of the book, how it starts in 1935, but then goes back to 1890 and tells the rest of the story...
January 18, 2013
I loved this book when I read it many years ago. But it still stays in my thoughts. One of these days I'm going to re-read it and I can only hope I enjoy it as much as I did the first time around.
August 6, 2013
Enjoyed the escapism of this author.
September 3, 2016
I tired so hard to get into this book, and no luck. Totally not a fan.
October 2, 2016
read in my teens. loved this author so much then...sweeping epics.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews