No Place, Louisiana

by Martin Pousson

Marrying Louis Toussaint out of sheer desperation to escape her life as a waitress and the object of her stepfather's affection, sixteen-year-old Nita finds her life filled with anticipation and disappointment that reaches a disastrous pinnacle when two children are born and become the focus of Nita's destructive desires and unrestrained rage. Reprint.

Genres: Fiction, Southern

272 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2002

Reviews

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think some of the reviewers who hated this book so much and thought it was so unrealistic are too young to have lived through the 50s and 60s. There was a time when people, especially men, simply didn't talk about their feelings. It's easy to forget how far we've come in the past 50+ years. I think this book is amazing and heartbreaking.

[Emily Shields · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can I like and desperately hate this book at the same time? I found this book to be unnerving, yet oddly moving. Pousson evokes almost every emotion imaginable with this. I was angry, sad, depressed,and shocked throughout. This is not a happy, peppy Southern novel, so if you're looking for light read I'd find another book. I enjoyed Pousson's writing style but it did take me a bit to get into it.

[Elke Ursin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! What a surprisingly excellent book! Although I just didn't really care about any of the characters, they were so much a car wreck that I just couldn't stop spying into their lives. I really enjoyed this one. A nice slice of life book about a not so nice slice of life. Not quite as bad as a life as Precious, but pretty darn bad.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written,disturbing,beautiful in a terrible way. Mr. Pousson delves into his characters hearts. If the story wasn't a tragedy, it could be described as a comedy of errors. I wanted to grab the main characters and shake them and tell them to pay attention to someone other than themselves for just a moment.

While it got pretty raw in parts, I did admire the way that Mr. Pousson showed the seamy world the characters lived in, without getting raunchy. His insight into the racism and social mores of all the characters, up and down the social strata, was thoughtful, though heartbreaking.

[Kasey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book. It took me a few chapters to get used to Pousson's style of writing, but then I was hooked. Very sad, very real. If you are looking for a happy, uplifting story to get away from reality, this is not the book for you. If you are looking for a moving drama that will inspire emotions in you, including anger and sadness, this is an excellent book. Can't wait to read more from this author!

[Ashley Weiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

I may be slightly partial to this piece, seeing as I've had the pleasure of meeting Martin Pousson on several occasions during his time at Loyola, but I fell in love with it. Especially as someone who grew up in the North, I found the family dynamics really interesting. The prose was also just beautiful.

[Kristi Lamont · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow this book was intense. And horribly depressing. But so, so good in so many other ways -- the telling of the story, the perfect capturing of "place," the character development . . .I would've rated it a 4 but it's hard to say you really liked something so soul-shattering, I think.

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book about fathers; hers, Louis' and Louis as a father.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

great book until the vague ending. it bothers me to get totally invested into the characters in a novel only to have the author leave them hanging with no conclusion. grr.

[Anne Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a book that was about an “ordinary” family in Louisiana in the 70’s, it was a page turner. I wanted to see what would happen to this family, and I even wish the story continued. A lot of thoughts went through my mind as I was reading about this family. First of all, I gather living in the south in the 70’s wasn’t at all like it is today. There was still much racial hatred, and south or north, there is no excusing child abuse. Nita and Louis marry when they’re still teenagers. This seems like a common thing to do back then, even Nita dropping out of high school. The thing that gets to me is Nita and Louis barely know each other, say hardly anything to each other, certainly don’t love each other, but they get married. From the time they’re married, all Nita seems to do is complain. She wants to move to a bigger house in a better neighborhood. Lewis does whatever she asks, hoping this will make her love Lewis, but it only is a bandaid until Nita wants to move again. Two children, Marc, and Jo come in the picture. Marc is the good child, Jo can’t do anything right. Life goes on, with Lewis’ mother finding fault with Nita whenever she sees her, a tornado destroying their house, Nita being rushed to the hospital with serious back problems caused from a car accident years prior, Louis Sr. passing away. But suddenly tragedy strikes again, with Jo, and we wonder will Lewis and Nita stay together? Will Marc be a success in life or will struggle with his sexuality? Did Nita’s health issues catch up with her on the night of her daughter’s death? Where will the family move now?

[Deborah Sowery-Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I certainly liked the writing in this novel but oh the story, just so hard to take as it's pretty much a miserable tale throughout & the characters are not very likeable either. But I guess it is showing how a hardscrabble life takes its toll on one's emotional characters & the characters in this novel cannot find happiness anywhere. Altho, upon reflection, the husband did not grow up poor, & he wasn't anymore successful than the wife in expressing himself or trying to change things, for the most part. It's is a train wreck of a story.

[Chelisa Clifton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. It had some really great qualities such as telling a story from perspective of both the husband and the wife. However, I found most of it to be overwhelmingly frustrating. I also really disliked the use of racial slurs. It seemed excessive and unnecessary.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book to be very dark and depressing.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked up this book because it is set in Acadiana; Cajun country; aka: Where I currently live. I was hoping to read it and feel some mystery or romance about the place, to keep my mind settled for the next year and to stop it from wishing I could move to all those mysterious places I read about. That did not happen.

I read this book in two days; rather, about 18 hours. Initially I felt like the story was so awful and boring that something interesting must happen soon... So I kept on reading at a furious pace to get to the interesting, not awful part as soon as possible. After the first half of the book, I gave up hope, and gave up on torturing myself to finish it. I had put it down, vowing not to waste my time, but then I got curious to see if there was any mention of places I knew. The characters actually moved to my city about 3/4 of the way through and I forced myself to finish it just to see if I could recognize any of the streets, or stores, or stories about Lafayette. At the end I felt angry that I had spent time reading this book when I could have been reading something more interesting, like The Time Traveler's Wife (Review to come, it's great so far.)

Here's what I hated about the book: From the first page I was irritated by the narrative. It's first person present tense, and something is completely off about it. The story is told from the dual perspectives of the Nita and Louis, a couple of young people in small-town Acadiana. The story is basically about the pain, misunderstanding, and frustrating entrapment of marriage. It details the daily events of their lives from the time they meet until many (way too many) years later when the only semi-, almost interesting thing in the book happens on the last two pages. The couple never talks to each other past the necessary things needed when one lives with another person. They, and everyone else, remain completely oblivious about the emotions of other characters. Their lives are miserable, boring, and frustrating, but not in a good way. The dynamics between the characters do not change at all from the very first interactions to the end of the novel. Nothing of interest happens, there are no great emotions besides frustration and boredom, the stereotypes about place and people are annoying, the writing is nothing special, etc etc etc.

If you must read this book, just read the first chapter. You will understand the full extent of the development of the relationship between Nita and Louis, and save yourself hours and frustration. There aren't even any good descriptions of Acadiana.

I really hated this book.

[MBenzz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I must say that I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book. I enjoyed it but found it to be very dark most times. It's the story of a young Louisiana girl, Nita, who wants to get as far away from her current situation as possible. Her step-father is creepy, her mother cares about nothing other than pleasing him, and she's in a dead-end job waiting tables at the local diner.

Along comes Louis, who offers marriage, a car, and a chance to get away from it all. Only problem is she doesn't love him, she can barely stand to be near him, she just wants what he can offer her. As their life goes on, and they begin to have children and really get to know one another, the story turns very depressing.

You realize very early on that there is something seriously wrong with Nita. Nothing is good enough for her, nothing makes her happy, she is constantly upset or depressed about one thing or the other. That made this a very difficult read for me. I would get so angry at Nita that I would just throw the book down and not pick it up for days. The abuse scenes were hard to take as well...and as the book moved along they appeared more frequently.

Overall, I would have to say this book was so-so. I don't think I would recommend this to anyone, just based on the dreary subject matter, but I didn't hate it. It was an interesting read, to say the least.

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished this one last night before starting "A Long Way Down" by Nick Hornsby. Southern lit tends to be a bit difficult, because it is "alien" to me. That said, I like the conversational -almost point/counterpoint style of this one. It is bleak, almost in a cliche way, but the story shines through that. It makes you uncomfortable... But in the ways I assume that it was meant to.

Edit: Finding out more about the author makes me understand so much more about the likeability/unlikeability of the characters and decisions made within... Reader response vs. author intent rears it's ugly head again. lol.

[Patsye · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this a horribly depressing book. The characterizations were so over the top and the communication between them so missing that it was not at all believable. There was no character who behaved in any kind of realistic manner, so I found myself very frustrated just reading it. I kept hoping for one person to make sense, but they never did. We never got even a hint of the kids' feeling or thoughts, and the only character I liked at all was Louis Sr.

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's rare to find a novel that both illustrates in well-wrought prose a true sense of place AND a novel written by a man who can actually write about the horror of a woman trapped in a loveless marriage with a controlling man. This novel does all of those things and more. Wonderful, albeit very depressing, read.

[Melissa Lacassin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Apparently everyone in Louisiana speaks Cajun French, and then they follow it with the English translation. Uh, ok. No sympathy for the shallow, bratty, selfish main character.

[Kasandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

excellent, good characterization, great snapshot of Cajun culture and southern Louisiana life, both funny and sad

[Jessica McReaderpants · Rating 1 out of 5]

Depressing/bleak and only interesting if you want to read English with some Cajun french words thrown in. Happy things happen in Louisiana too!

[Mary sipp rigby · Rating 2 out of 5]

2002 good read young author

[rottnapples · Rating 2 out of 5]

read it on the plane back from ABQ. The story was good, the ending kinda bothered me.

[ClairetheLibrarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since I live in Louisiana there are so many things wonderful within the book. I can understand the mentality of the characters (although the extent of the lack of communication between Nita and Louis was a bit far fetched) and the confines of the rural settings. But I can also see why a story with decent writing would not be readily accepted by a more universal crowd!