Traveling Europe's Trains: 5th (Paperback)

Set in the Vieux Carre, the French Quarter, during the final years of the nineteenth century, Tante Cydette tells a tale of Creole New Orleans. Published originally in 1888, it may rightly claim to be the first naturalist work published in the New World. The main character of this novella is Tante Cydette, an old maid who has a penchant for controlling the destinies of everyone around her. She lives through her niece, Ermence, for whom she schemes to win a husband. Through his vivid prose and perceptive descriptions, Dessommes offers his readers a masterful portrait of the French-speaking Creole society of old New Orleans. He reveals the psychological anguish of a people whose vanishing language and diminishing political power foreshadowed their assimilation into American culture. Tante Cydette is part of Pelicanis new series-- Les Classiques Pelican, which features selections of French and Creole Louisiana literature edited by Louisiana scholars. The selections include study questions, and are appropriate for second- or third-year level-college courses or for high school students in fourth-year French. Louisiana teachers qualify for purchase vouchers from the CODOFIL Consortium of Louisiana Colleges and Universities, which cover half the cost of adopting Les Classiques Pelican for classes.