Book Review 2: Aftermath of Dreaming by DeLauné Michel

By April MacIntyre May 13, 2006, 19:46 GMT

Set against the glittering worlds of Los Angeles and New York, and told with both humor and pathos, this debut novel by an award-winning writer explores the universal themes of abandonment and forgiveness. ...more

Author DeLauné Michel has introduced us to Yvette Broussard-a deliciously intellectual, sensitive beauty with a wicked, yet - blame it on her southern roots - polite wit. Yvette has a problem-she can't seem to stop screaming in her sleep, dreams that haunt her no matter how far she runs away from Pass Christian, Mississippi.

Her story is a non-linear outline of the aftermath of a beloved Father's leave from his family, and its subsequent effects.  The observant, perceptive Yvette matures into an artist and intrepid soul loose in New York City in her late teens.  Michel's Yvette is the most intriguing female heroine of recent fiction-and it would not surprise me to see this charming character blown up to the screen soon. 

The title "Southern Gothic"- Michel's well reviewed one woman show in Los Angeles in the late 90's-would be another excellent description of this tale of various romantic interludes, regional American societal cues in flux,  honest introspection and vocational trial and error.

A modern southern belle-Yvette Broussard grows up seemingly happy, in a Catholic nuclear family.  Mother is just so - a true southern lady who gives Yvette and her sister the "light check" by the open door- making sure her young ladies have a de rigueur modest silhouette. Michel writes her character Yvette with clarity and an understated observation of all the voices around that she absorbs - wicking out the pathos of her unhappy father, controlling sister and bereft and depressed mother.   There is a straightforward narrative Yvette shares with us as she observes her world, her immediate relationship to it-and her ultimate sexual relationship that nearly consumes her as she matures.

At a friend's show-Yvette has a chance encounter with her "Mr. Big", blast from her past, Andrew Madden- a Warren Beatty-esque star. Michel takes us on the long journey from an 18 year old Hostess in New York City- where she began her liaison with this powerful, self-absorbed man, who relishes the "daddy" role he senses that he fills.

Chance and opportunity has Yvette moving cross-country to Los Angeles- a city filled with great visuals for her to ponder and muse.  A city also filled with Andrew Madden, new men to reconnoiter and her sole sister –the anxiety inducing and soon to be married Suzanne.  At age twenty-nine and making a real name for herself as a jewelry designer in Los Angeles, Yvette is near the finish line.  Or is she?

Yvette still is haunted by her Pass Christian past, her father's disappearing act and her mother's accidental death years earlier, and even in sun bathed L.A. she still wakes up screaming from nightmares. The book skillfully takes you to her peaceful, humorous and optimistic acceptance of the foreshadowing of good dreams to come for Ms. Broussard.