Murmur of Rain

Show Notes

Murmur of Rain is a Gothic-tinged historical romance set in France and Haiti in the 1890s by Patricia Vaughn. Lauren Dufort is the daughter of a descendent of enslaved people in French Guiana and a white Frenchman. Her parents were deeply in love, but their marriage estranged them from society, so when Lauren is orphaned as a teen, she is raised by her paternal aunt, Claude, who runs a gentleman’s club, knowing that her mixed-race identity may keep her from ever making a love match in 19th century France. But when handsome Haitian Roget de Martier arrives at Claude’s club, Lauren is immediately smitten and he seems to reciprocate interests. There are hints of secrets about his past and family in Haiti, but when the rich gentleman proposes marriage instead of a mistress arrangement, Lauren’s head and heart both feel like this is her best chance at happiness.

Books Mentioned

To Have and To Hold by Patricia Gaffney

Shadows on the Bayou by Patricia Vaughn

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Mademoiselle Revolution by Zoe Sivak

Works Cited

Black Romance Podcast: Interview with Patricia Vaughn and Julie Moody-Freeman

The Madwoman in the Attic by Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar

“A Parody of Love: the Narrative Uses of Rape in Popular Romance” by Angela R. Toscano

“Frederick Douglass and Haiti’s Mole St. Nicolas” by Myra Himelhoch (Some of the language is a bit outdated for example, she calls Haitians' interest in Mole Saint Nicolas as “mystical.”)

Transcript

Coming soon!