Outskirts Press, INC.

Les Martel Brings Louisiana-Style Ass-Kicking to Hollywood

Three generations of a Louisiana Creole family have struggled amidst blues music, religious conflict, lust, lynching, murder, voodoo and racism. Now, as they come of age, the grandchildren of Martha Broussard, find they must carve their own paths through a rapidly changing world. Ann Martel becomes the doctor her grandfather hoped her brother would become. Disappointed in love, she finds contentment and happiness with an older woman-partner, who ironically was her Grandmother's choice to be married into the family. Meanwhile, her brother, Les Martel, defies all who challenge the man he desires to be. He protests racial intimidation in Estilette, takes on the abusive lover of his Aunt in Chicago, fights a Paul Bunyan-sized giant in the backwoods of Bemidji, kicks the ass of his sister's contemptible womanizer boyfriend in Nashville, and gives comeuppance to a backstabber in Hollywood. He soon discovers that Hollywood is not the place he thought it would be--the values were not his values--the truth is not his truth--trust is deception--honesty is weakness and “loyalty” an unknown word. Bodacious Blues, the remarkable finale to Whitney LeBlanc’s compelling, blues-filled trilogy, completes this proud family’s saga. Amidst a milieu of religious controversy, sexual cross-identification, changing values, and racial exploitation, the message is loud and clear—Coming of age as adults was not as easy as they thought.