Adrienne Rivet is a beautiful, down-on-her-luck thirty-year-old from New Orleans. But her luck changes completely when a stranger introduces himself as a long-lost cousin and gives her ownership of a valuable brothel. The only catch is: She has to pretend to be married to the co-owner of the place. Thus, she becomes “Madam Tellier,” the Queen of the French Quarter. A year after she arrives at the … arrives at the brothel, she receives an invitation to her brother’s wedding. She flies to Mexico to be there for him – and in the space of a single night, falls head over heels in love with his fiancée.
Dora Wakefield is a gorgeous, charming young woman from Georgia. She comes from a poor family, and her marriage to Adrienne’s wealthy brother is very important to her loved ones’ futures. But after meeting Adrienne, she begins to question all the choices she’s made.
On the morning of the wedding, she knocks on Adrienne’s door to say she thinks she’s falling for her. That she wants to run away with her. But Adrienne is torn between her feelings for Dora and her love for her brother – and she doesn’t know what to do.
What will become of Adrienne and Dora? Is it realistic to turn the passion they shared into an actual life – or will they go back to the patterns and routines they’ve already chosen?
Is love strong enough to break the chains of a fettered existence?
This is a 30,000-word novella inspired by the short story “Madame Tellier’s Excursion” by Guy de Maupassant.
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Madame Tellier’s Lover is a story that begins in New Orleans. This story had a noir, and gritty feel to it that made for the perfect canvas to talk about love, lust and life in-between.
Adrienne the main character is a young woman, a bit down on her luck, but she’s street savvy and willing to do what it takes to make her way in the world. “The French Quarter, to be precise. Maybe you didn’t know it, but for over a decade now, Madam Tellier’s house has been the pinnacle of the Quarter. After the devastating hurricane that swept through the city, but which was kinder to the Quarter.”
The opening lines are perfect to bring you front and center with one of my favorite cities, The Big Easy, Nola, whatever you call it, it’s a dark place, full of mystery, afternoon delight and murky history that speaks more about humans as they are, rather who they pretend to be. This writer reels you in perfectly and clearly understands this truth.
“The building fronts were like so many stained, uneven teeth in the mouth of an old woman who was particularly fond of black tea.” The imagery here and here, “There was a thin, towering birch that grew in the middle of the sidewalk, in the center of a hole in the concrete surrounded by cedar chips. It seemed that it had grown angry during the hurricane, and had lashed out with one of its scrawny arms to attack the upper window.” has a very southern sensibility and the voice feels authentic, so much so I was sure the author was from New Orleans.
“For a few years, she’d lived with a wealthy woman named Beulah Landon. But then the woman died of a heart attack, and that was the end of that.”
This is a story about lust, survival of the fittest and also about love. Not necessarily in the same parts of the story though.
Beulah is a fantastic, well-developed character. She reminded me of a woman I used to know who owned a mansion downtown Savannah and everyone called her The Duchess, because she had more money than she could ever spend and threw the most outrageous parties! You will either despise this character or love her, but the one thing you won’t say is that she isn’t dead honest about who she is. What a delicious southern villain she is, but I ponder… is she really the antagonist? Her flaws are worn on her sleeve, but her dysfunctional family, as in her money-hungry, adult children are vying for winning that race.
The patrons of Madame Tellier discussing Caligula and classical literature in the lounge together was an absolute treasure. Book snobs like to think that patrons of a house with a red door might not be well read or have fine taste in clothes or food. I loved that the author turned that stereotype around and had fun with it. Brava!
“But nothing on earth is very much like heaven.” With more challenges Adrienne confesses that she hadn’t seen her brother in years, but gets invited to his wedding in Mexico and perhaps this is the place she finally understands love. The real kind that makes you crazy and spontaneous, those moments you won’t ever forget.
There is a sex scene that is extremely well written between lovers, two women and it’s very racy. For that reason I vacillated between five and four stars. Not because it wasn’t well done, it was, but because I see great potential in this writer to go mainstream and more commercial if the sex is a tad more imagined — than fully drawn. This story reminded me of Jackie Collins in her early writing, it wasn’t quite as vivid or descriptive as, The Bitch, but I was getting the same power vibe, especially in the first half and really enjoyed it.
“But in this world of ours, five years can make a world of difference. It can sharpen the line between cruelty and goodness; and it can blur the line between madness and reason.”
This line slayed it for me. “It started a strange fire in the place where she thought her heart was supposed to be.”
I hear you Adrienne, I really do.