Dianne Dempsey-legnon

Belair Cove: a Novel of Life, Love, and Loss in a Prairie Cajun Village Dianne Dempsey-legnon

In the early 1900s, Belair Cove was a world unto itself, a small Acadian-French (Cajun) village outside of Ville Platte, Louisiana. It consisted of a few small farms on either side of a winding dirt road that snaked across a wide prairie. Belair Cove was a place where families and friends relied upon each other for survival; a place where everyone knew everything there was to know about one another, yet there were untold secrets. Belair Cove shares such a secret. It is the story of three young Cajuns whose lives were firmly rooted in the land, culture, and people of their village. It is the story of young lovers torn apart by poverty and war. Angelique had to watch as her true love, Jean Marc, went off to fight in the Great War while she stayed home to rage a war of her own in a loveless marriage with a man who slowly spiraled out of control into drunkenness and debauchery. The people of the Cove watched, waited, and eventually everyone had to choose a side.