In this spellbinder by critically acclaimed author Tim Gautreaux, Sam Simoneaux returns from World War I to rebuild his life. But when a girl is snatched from the New Orleans department store where he's working, he hops aboard a Mississippi steamboat to find her-and dredges up ghosts from his painful past. "An exceptional novel . fluent prose, accomplished storytelling, and strong characterizations in this paean to the indefatigability of the human spirit."-Booklist
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"A really entertaining read. A New Orleans man returns home from WWI and finds a job as a floorwalker in a large department store. Unfortunately for him, a 3 year old is kidnapped while he is working and the store fires him, with the promise of him being able to return to the job if he finds the child. He takes a job with a Riverboat, where the child's mom, dad and brother work and proceeds to retrack steps to locate her. So many events take place while he is on his quest and his life gets very intertwined with the young kidnapped girl's family. He too has a family, but they are not very well fleshed out as characters. The Riverboat people are the most descriptive and believable. Really a good story, right down to the last page."
— Su (4 out of 5 stars)
" I almost gave this a 5 because I really enjoyed it. 1920's Louisiana and paddle steamers and all the rest you would expect. I loved the clearing and I think this was maybe even better. Have decided it deserved a 5. "
— Lorna, 2/1/2014" A World War I soldier returns home to New Orleans. While working in security at a department store, a little girl is kidnapped. The story is about his quest to find her, joining her parents and brother on a river boat which travels up and down the Mississippi. In the process of searching for the girl and her abductors, he deals with his own issues of loss stemming from the death of his own child and the murders of his family when he was a boy. "
— Kathy, 1/30/2014" Interesting character reactions to the main character who is not a revenful man. Reads like a mystery, but it isn't. "
— Tressa, 1/29/2014" Couldn't get into this one. Not going to finish. "
— Jill, 1/10/2014" My family was ignored for three days while I read this engrossing book. I usually refuse to read books about abducted children, but this one was different. Set right after WW l the young protagonist, a veteran of the war who has reason to feel responsible for the occurence of the abduction,is on a quest to find the child. He gets a job on a riverboat and searches towns up and down the Mississippi, and his determined efforts resolve not only the problem with the child, but also redeem him from a long-standing personal issue that has troubled him from his youth. I love realistic books that end on a high note. Margaret "
— Margaret, 1/3/2014" Excellent book, best book I've read in a long time!!!!! "
— Donna, 12/30/2013" Amazing story and beautifully written! "
— Pat, 12/30/2013" So excellent! Mystery, intrigue, ferryboats, music, a kidnapping, and rednecks. What more could one ask for!? "
— Daniel, 12/14/2013" I flew through this book and really enjoyed it. It showed me an entire life style (traveling on a showboat up the Mississippi)and time period that I didn't know much about. "
— Tyra, 11/13/2013" As always Gautreaux's writing is amazing. "
— Jessica, 4/11/2013" This is a very well written novel, and I'm learning a whole lot about Mississippi riverboat life in the 1920s. "
— Louise, 3/7/2013Tim Gautreaux is the author of three novels and two earlier short story collections. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Best American Short Stories, The Atlantic, Harper’s, and GQ. After teaching for thirty years at Southeastern Louisiana University, he now lives with his wife in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Henry Strozier is an actor with a forty-year career in numerous movies and television series. Also a voice-over artist, he has worked extensively in video games and audiobook narration, earning several AudioFile Earphones Awards.