Synopsis

Only Charlotte, a novel of entanglements in New Orleans, 1880

Lenore James, a woman of independent means who has outlived three husbands, is determined to disentangle her brother Gilbert from the beguiling Charlotte Eden. Chafing against misogyny and racism in the post-Civil War South, Lenore learns that Charlotte’s husband is enmeshed in the re-enslavement schemes of a powerful judge, and she worries that Gilbert’s adoration of Charlotte will lead him into disaster. Inspired by a production of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, Lenore adopts the role of Paulina for herself to discover how far Charlotte’s husband bears the blame for his wife’s fate and whether or not he is capable of atonement. In her process of unraveling the intricacies of the lives of others, Lenore finds that Gilbert’s love for Charlotte is, indeed, his saving grace while Lenore’s passion for creative expression is her own.

Guest Post

Today I welcome author Rosemary Poole-Carter to StoreyBook Reviews.  I am currently reading this book and so far it is quite intriguing with the back and forth between Lenore and Gilbert’s POV, the mystery surrounding Charlotte – did someone try to murder her?  How is the story going to play out.

My thanks to Leslie, with whom I share a reader’s upbringing, and to StoreyBook Reviews for the chance to reflect on the storyline of my new historical novel Only Charlotte.

Naturally, while researching a novel set in the post-Civil War South, I read social history, biographies, and diaries of the period. Then, while relaxing with another writer’s novel, whether contemporary or historical, I’m drawn to stories that contain elements of the creative writing process, perhaps some layering of narration, along with the promise to “tell me a story.” Thus, I’ve folded my fondness for layering into the story Only Charlotte’s narrator Lenore James tells of amorous and murderous entanglements in 1880’s New Orleans.

Lenore, a thrice-widowed lady of independent means, is concerned for her younger brother Gilbert, whom she discovers is infatuated with the married and mysterious Charlotte. While Lenore remains a little evasive about her own life, she tells her readers plainly: “It is my brother’s story—what I know of it, what I was told, what I suspect but may never know for sure—that I wish now to unravel.”

On finishing a read of Only Charlotte, one reviewer commented that she felt she’d read a mystery, a romance, and a drama, all in one. Her recognition of that concoction of story elements delighted me—as I think it would Lenore. After Lenore’s latest suitor takes her to a production of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, Lenore finds the play inspires her own actions in dealing with the mystery, romance, and drama swirling around her. Soon, Lenore envisions herself writing a stage play of her own, raising the curtain on a cast of characters, tying them up in conflicts, and then unknotting each difficulty before the curtain falls.

About the Author

Rosemary Poole-Carter explores aspects of an uneasy past in her novels Only Charlotte, Women of Magdalene, What Remains, and Juliette Ascending, all set in the post-Civil War South. Her plays include The Familiar, a ghost story, and The Little Death, a Southern gothic drama. Fascinated by history, mystery, and the performing and visual arts, she is a member of the Historical Novel Society, Mystery Writers of America, and the Dramatists Guild of America. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, she was a long-time resident of Houston, where she practiced her devotion to reading and writing with students of the Lone Star College System. She now lives and writes by the Eno River in Durham, North Carolina.

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