In this Book
- The Cottoncrest Curse: A Novel
- Book
- 2014
- Published by: Louisiana State University Press
The bodies of an elderly colonel and his comely young wife are discovered on the staircase of their stately plantation home, their blood still dripping down the wooden balustrades. Within the sheltered walls of Cottoncrest, Augustine and Rebecca Chastaine have met their deaths under the same shroud of mystery that befell the former owner, who had committed suicide at the end of the Civil War. Locals whisper about the curse of Cottoncrest Plantation, an otherworldly force that has now taken three lives. But Sheriff Raifer Jackson knows that even a specter needs a mortal accomplice, and after investigating the crime scene, he concludes that the apparent murder/suicide is a double homicide, with local peddler Jake Gold as the prime suspect.
Assisted by his overzealous deputy, a grizzled Civil War physician, and the racist Knights of the White Camellia, the Sheriff directs a manhunt for Jake through a village of former slaves, the swamps of Cajun country, and the bordellos of New Orleans. But Jake's chameleon-like abilities enable him to elude his pursuers. As a peddler who has built relationships by trading fabric, needles, dry goods, and especially razor-sharp knives in exchange for fur, Jake knows the back roads of the small towns that dot the Mississippi River Delta. Additionally, his uncanny talent for languages allows him to pose as just another local, hiding his true identity as an immigrant Jew who fled Czarist-Russia.
Michael H. Rubin's The Cottoncrest Curse takes readers on the bold journey of Jake's flight within an epic sweep of treachery and family rivalry ranging from the Civil War to the civil rights era, as the impact of the 1893 murders ripples through the twentieth century and violence besets the owners of Cottoncrest into the 1960s.
Table of Contents
- PART I: Chapter 1
- Chapter 10
- pp. 36-37
- Chapter 11
- pp. 38-39
- Chapter 12
- pp. 40-44
- Chapter 13
- pp. 45-48
- Chapter 14
- pp. 49-51
- Chapter 15
- pp. 52-54
- Chapter 16
- pp. 55-57
- Chapter 17
- pp. 58-60
- Chapter 18
- pp. 61-63
- Chapter 19
- pp. 64-66
- Chapter 20
- pp. 67-71
- PART II: Chapter 21
- Chapter 22
- pp. 74-76
- Chapter 23
- pp. 77-79
- Chapter 24
- pp. 80-83
- Chapter 25
- pp. 84-88
- Chapter 26
- pp. 89-92
- Chapter 27
- pp. 93-95
- Chapter 28
- pp. 96-100
- Chapter 29
- pp. 101-105
- Chapter 30
- pp. 106-109
- Chapter 31
- pp. 110-115
- PART III: Chapter 32
- Chapter 33
- pp. 118-122
- Chapter 34
- pp. 123-126
- Chapter 35
- pp. 127-130
- Chapter 36
- pp. 131-133
- Chapter 37
- pp. 134-135
- Chapter 38
- pp. 136-139
- Chapter 39
- pp. 140-141
- Chapter 40
- pp. 142-147
- Chapter 41
- pp. 148-149
- Chapter 42
- pp. 150-153
- Chapter 43
- pp. 154-156
- Chapter 44
- pp. 157-161
- Chapter 45
- pp. 162-164
- Chapter 46
- p. 165
- Chapter 47
- pp. 166-170
- PART IV: Chapter 48
- Chapter 49
- pp. 173-175
- Chapter 50
- pp. 176-179
- Chapter 51
- pp. 180-183
- Chapter 52
- pp. 184-186
- Part V: Chapter 53
- pp. 187-189
- Chapter 54
- pp. 190-194
- Chapter 55
- pp. 195-200
- Chapter 56
- pp. 201-204
- Chapter 57
- pp. 205-207
- Chapter 58
- pp. 208-210
- Chapter 59
- pp. 211-213
- PART VI: Chapter 60
- Chapter 61
- pp. 216-217
- Chapter 62
- pp. 218-220
- Chapter 63
- pp. 221-224
- Chapter 64
- pp. 225-226
- Chapter 65
- pp. 227-229
- Chapter 66
- pp. 230-231
- PART VII: Chapter 67
- Chapter 68
- pp. 234-239
- PART VIII: Chapter 69
- Chapter 70
- pp. 242-245
- Chapter 71
- pp. 246-249
- PART IX: Chapter 72
- Chapter 73
- pp. 252-255
- Chapter 74
- pp. 256-259
- Chapter 75
- pp. 260-262
- PART X: Chapter 76
- Chapter 77
- pp. 265-267
- Chapter 78
- pp. 268-270
- Chapter 79
- pp. 271-272
- PART XI: Chapter 80
- Chapter 81
- pp. 275-276
- Chapter 82
- pp. 277-279
- Chapter 83
- p. 280
- Chapter 84
- pp. 281-282
- PART XII: Chapter 85
- Chapter 86
- pp. 285-287
- Chapter 87
- pp. 288-290
- PART XIII: chapter 88
- Chapter 89
- pp. 293-294
- Chapter 90
- pp. 295-296
- Chapter 91
- pp. 297-298
- Chapter 92
- pp. 299-300
- Chapter 93
- pp. 301-302
- Part XIV: Chapter 94
- pp. 303-307