Whispers of the Bayou

Mindy Starns Clark

2/24/2008

Miranda Miller moved to Manhattan when she was five after her mother commited suicide at the family home in Louisiana. Her mother's sister, Aunt Janet, AJ, raised her. Miranda completely erased any memories of her life in Louisiana after being traumatized by something.

Now she's 32, an art restorator, wife, and mother. She is unhappy in her marriage and secluded into herself. One day Miranda is attacked in an alley. But the attackers only search her body then run off. AJ reluctantly gives her some letters. The man who holds the life estate on the family plantation in Louisiana. When he dies, the property is hers. He is dying now and urgently wants her to come see him. AJ knows that whatever happened to Miranda before she left Louisiana affected her deeply psychologically and hoped Miranda never had to return to the Fairmont home. Miranda knows she has to.

She immediately flies down to Louisiana. The dying man, Willy Pedreax, had been a close friend of her grandmother's. The two had been the protectors of an old family secret. He needs to pass on the guardianship of the secret before he dies. Miranda and his niece, Lisa, are the next two. Lisa also is his nurse. They finally agree to take the vow of guardianship. Then Willy dies before he can give them the secret they are supposed to guard. All they have are vague clues about an angelus (bell) and Cajun folklore.

Miranda is also uncovering another mystery. The old family mansion was where she lived the first five years of her life. Despite its disrepair after Hurricane Katrina and Willy's illness, she sees the house she knew as a child. Bits and pieces of memory are returning. What had happened while she lived here? What has she made herself forget?

Whispers of the Bayou is told first person by Miranda. That gives the reader an understanding of this woman who has walled herself away from close contact with people, including her husband, daughter or aunt. Mindy Starns Clark has related an excellent tale in this novel which starts a bit slow but by the first third had me completely pulled in.

Although a Christian novel, the religious theme is low-key in Whispers of the Bayou. It is the journey of self-discovery and family secrets that sustain this book. Clark is able to set the scene and give the feeling of the oppressiveness from the humidity and the darkness of the secrets in Miranda's lost memories. Yet there is sunshine and happy discovery that also show the beauty of Louisiana.

Whispers of the Bayou is a psychological suspense with just enough action to make it exciting. I recommend this book. It's a good read.

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Provided for review