"The First Cuvier Widow"

Marian Cuvier is in shock when she discovers that her husband has been murdered. And even more shocking is the fact that he has three wives! Marian is the first and legal wife and then there are Nicole and Layla. None of them knew about the others until the death of Jean Cuvier. Marian is left with two children and a large household to take care of as well as Jean's half-interest in the shipping business. Her business partner is handsome Louis Fournet. Marian determines to help run the business, and that is almost unheard of in the late 1890's in New Orleans. She is intelligent and brings something more personal to the business. She calls everyone by name, inquires about their families and, despite Louis' hope to discourage her participation, she is soon entrenched in the business. What she does not realize is that Louis is looking into selling the business and buying a mill for himself.

Marian is feeling very uncertain about her femininity. She wants to know why her husband was such a philanderer. Did she drive him away? She is very attracted to Louis but doubts her ability to hold a man.

Jean was a bounder and Louis is very devious in his plot to sell the business without Marian's knowledge. He is constantly dishonest in his dealings with the widow. I could not warm up to the man but he does manage to redeem himself by the end of the book. Marian is a strong woman determined to keep her children's birthright and concerned that she is attracted to another man like her husband. The secondary characters all play small roles and none really stand out unless it is Marian's little son who suffers for his father's misdeeds. SUNLIGHT ON JOSEPHINE STREET is well written and the beginning of the Cuvier widows series by Sylvia McDaniel.

Reviewed by Marilyn Heyman
Posted October 24, 2002