Raised in a New Orleans
mansion filled with kindness and laughter, Pearl dreams of becoming a
doctor. With all the finest families wishing her well, her high school
graduation party is almost as festive as Mardi Gras itself. But still,
she fears that she will never know the essence of romantic passion, or
her family's buried secrets. Yet her summer job in an elegant old
hospital is fascinating... and an experienced intern is eager to share
his friendship with her. But the sultry Louisiana heat cannot dispel her
family's sinful legacy, the snakelike treachery of a man who threatens
Pearl's innocence, or an awful portent of disaster. After a cruel
accident befalls one of Pearl's twin brothers, the bayou that seized him
beckons to Ruby, who flees, tormented, back to her Cajun roots. Pearl's
faith in her mother abides, but she cannot hold back her tears when her
other brother falls deathly ill, and her father retreats into his own
bourbon-soaked world. Pearl's dreams of success swirl away with the
hurricane winds, and she journeys to the swamps in search of her mother
and the shocking truth of her heritage. In the warm embrace of a gentle
Cajun man, she discovers a blessed refuge. But, until the storm clouds
clear, Pearl cannot savor the springtime sweetness that always, always
seems beyond tomorrow.
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