One man's charm opens doors... and unlocks dangerous secrets.
In 1920s New Orleans, Eugene Ste. Cherie, a naïve Pullman Porter, stumbles into a world of booze, sex, and jazz when he helps a white passenger. He is later hired to work at a lakefront casino. Despite prohibition, alcohol flows freely, and Eugene tends bar at lavish social events.
His wife Eartha remains oblivious to the secrets and lies surrounding him. As Eugene's good looks and skills make him a sought-after man, he narrowly escapes seduction and scandal. When Eartha uncovers his affair, she learns the painful truth about his involvement with the city's elite.
Set against a backdrop of glamour and deception, this unforgettable story explores the price of ambition—and what's left when the lies run out.
Debra Lee is from a Black Catholic Patriarchal New Orleans family. She is a remarkable story teller whose goal is to honor the ancestors. Her four grandparents represented six ethnic cultures – Native American, Hispaniolan, Chinese, White, Black (slave and free). Ms. Lee, a graduate of Bauder Fashion College and Tulane University, has lived in four states and worked at five dozen jobs for city and state governments, corporations, universities, factories, and in retail management. Her family hosted international students at both undergraduate and professional levels from African and Asian countries, and Turkey. She also volunteered as an advocate for parents of children with special needs. Her short stories have been published in a number of periodicals. Pullman, her first novel, was published in August 2025.
The New Orleans of 1926 is much like the city today. It's a lot more expensive. The holidays are the same, but the servers are diverse. Prohibition is over, has been for almost 100 years. Now, people ask for alcohol free drinks. Go figure. A lot of the flavor left the city 20 years ago after Hurricane Katrina, but New Orleans still makes roux for the gravy. The people are like that - a colorful, flavorful mix. Eugene and Eartha, however, are unique individuals by any standards. Dive into their world of the Roaring 20s in PULLMAN.
Reflecting on the hardships of the human experience. Realize love is more than what you may have first perceived as; It grows and matures after which turns into something else which is still love.