Cheniere Caminada and the Tidal Wave of 1893: The Incredible Survival of Claydomere Paul Lafont

The author's 6th novel offers us an intimate look at life and hardships in a small fishing community on the Louisiana Gulf Coast in 1893. Hit hard by tropical storms and hurricanes, the community suffered many losses, not just of their property and family, but of their innocence. The village of Cheniere Caminada had a population of 1600 on October 1, 1893. The next day half were gone. The legacy left by the people of Cheniere is a proud and courageous one. Cheniere, before the 1893 storm, was a special place, not just because of its picturesque setting and colorful history - it was the living monument of a people's pride - the identity of the people who lived and worked there. There was a wild beauty about this place where waves rolled with haughty grandeur against the sandy shore. One day that wild beauty went horribly awry when the sea suddenly swept in over the land, then rushed out again with a terrible force, taking people with it. There were many stories of survival, each one more horrible than the last. One, in particular, of a 14- year-old boy who experienced an 8 day ordeal on a raft so terrible that one can only imagine bow he survived so long without food or water, will break your heart - not only for the reality of the tragedy, but for the way in which it is told to the reader. A beautiful compelling story of loss and redemption and the complex destructiveness of grief set against the Reconstruction Era in the South after the Civil War. It is a story of devotion and discovery, belief and trust, but above all - love - the love between one very special soul and another. Based on actual events.