If Ever I Cease to Love Book

FRANCIS PARKINSON KEYES… Over the years I've bought and read most of her books, and I've never been disappointed. I can see how some readers might think her writing is slow. That's because she takes time to give rich details of the time period, her settings, and the backgrounds for her plots. Her impeccable research is second to none. But that's not why I love her work so much. What she does best is tell a great story. In the end, that's the difference between her work and that of lesser writers. Some of them have forgotten that first and foremost they are supposed to be story tellers. Ms. Keyes' books stand the test of time, because great writing and story telling will never go out of style. If you have a chance to read any of her novels, don't pass it up. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
She lives for a year in the setting of her novel, gathering background and stories from people in the area, she meets with the owners of the plantations and includes some of their family stories and details of plantation life in her book, she has people who live in the area help her research, she notes the weather, the plants, the animals, the feel of the place and includes it all in her books. Written in the forties, her books see history, but through the lens of the forties, which gives them an added dimension of interest, as attitudes toward many things are so different 50 years later. She is a strong believer in love at first sight, of understanding and devoted wives, which may reflect the forties, but her characters change, have flaws and pay the consequences, grow wiser as they age and have strong values. There are characters that have no values who are foils and contrast to the main character. She follows a family through three generations, and notes the changes in technology, the current events, and the styles for each generation, as well as the consequence of certain choices made by older generations on their posterity. An historical saga that takes you to a different place and another time.

This one tells the history of the Creoles who settled New Orleans and the Americans who came in after the Louisiana Purchase and their clash of culture, language, manners, and religion. It is a great historical novel that is woven around Mardi Gras through the years.