Crawfish Dreams: A Novel
by Nancy Rawles

The luminous, uplifting story of a woman who cooks up a plan to bring her family back together and discovers that love, sharing, and a dash of daring are the secret ingredients that can turn dreams into reality.

Camille Broussard can remember a time when she had more pep in her stride and her single-story house was one of the nicest homes in the cozy, well-kept neighborhood of Watts. Her kitchen overflowed with the fragrant aromas of Creole cooking, and the taste of her divine crawfish, rich gumbos, and delicious pralines had family and friends begging for seconds and thirds. The devastation of the Watts riots and the ravages of Reaganomics, however, changed everything. Her neighbors have fled, the church pews are nearly empty at Sunday mass, and her own children have turned their backs on Watts and on the pride and values Camille instilled in them.

Her grandson Nicholas has just finished serving time for a crime he knew better than to commit; her politically active lesbian daughter, Grace, is struggling with an identity crisis; and Yvette, her na ve, sexually cloistered daughter, has a husband whose secrets threaten to destroy the bond between mother and daughter. But despite how far they have strayed, Camille is not ready to give up on the family who has nourished her as she has nourished them. So she decides to combine her love of family and her love of cooking into one great enterprise. She opens Camille’s Creole Kitchen and recruits her family to help her get the restaurant on its feet. As the business gradually grows, Camille not only restores her family’s spirit and sense of purpose, she also recovers her own lost dreams.

Written with grace and vitality, Crawfish Dreams is a generous novel about responsibility, community, family loyalty, and the pursuit of personal happiness. From its heartwarming messages to the recipes sprinkled throughout its pages, it is an irresistible treat from start to finish.