Hello George:

Am I the only person who was disappointed in Cane River?

I truly admire Lalita's courage to leave corporate America and am so very proud that her book is a best seller.

However, I was left wanting at times. Since her book was fictionalized in part, she begged the issue of femmes de couleur and their relationship with white men. She slanted her characters/family relationships on the "safe and acceptable side" of forced concubinage. She played it a little too much.

Some of my opinions on Cane River were shaped before I read her book. Gary Mills' book, "The Forgotten People: Cane River's Creoles of Color, LSU Press, 1977 fills out the life and times of people from that region. Perhaps Lalita drew some of her characters from the legendary Metoyer family.

However she did emphasize an important historical truth.
She writes that Cane River is a woman's book. No doubt about that. Women were totally vulnerable to the whims of men back then. Her point was well taken...that a woman had to do what she had to do...to be financially secure.

Hopefully we will not judge them...if they acted freely and made that choice.