978-1-58838-153-8
1-58838-153-6
$27.95 hardcover
6" x 9"
479 pages
appendix, bibliography
Court Street Press |
Margaretha's Trunk is a
fast-paced genealogical novel whose power lies in its non-fictional
characters as they live their lives in New Orleans, the second largest
city in America, in the summer of 1847.
The mystery surrounding the family will make you wonder "what
if" when you encounter the real as well as the fictional characters
who tell the story. You will think of the kindly Herr Holzer with
real affection and the pragmatic Frau Henning with a shake of the
head. You will recognize the novice Frances, a nun going about her
errand of mercy. You will look at every street vendor to see if he
is Juan.
As inhabitants did a century or more ago, you may walk down the
banquette, hear the church chimes calling the faithful to mass, stroll
through the Places des Armes, observe the neutral grounds without
recognition of their significance, and understand French without
speaking it when you call the streets by name or order food from a menu.
The Henke, called "Feldkemper" family, as immigrants, swelled
the population of New Orleans to more than 200,000 souls in the 1850s,
just like your ancestors flooded over time into America's cities.
Reading this novel, you will feel an undeniable kinship.
about the author
Louise Kreher Turner retired from Auburn University as Associate
Professor Emerita in 1975. Since then, she has created and endowed
a 110-acre nature center, the Louise Krehrer Forest Ecology preserve of
the School of Forestry and Wildlife Science of Auburn University.
Over the years, by the acquisition of degrees, she transformed her self
into city recreation director, playground director, and schoolteacher.
Margaretha's Trunk is her first novel. |
