La Place

The year is 1859 and the wealthy, well-educated, French-speaking famille de gens de couleur libres (family of free people of color), THE DAPREMONTS, are living a life of privilege and hedonism on their plantation La Place in Cane River, Louisiana. They, as well as other Creoles of color, exist on an ambiguous tier in society since they legally have their own racial classification in Louisiana: though they face much degradation due to their few drops of African blood, they also reap many social and financial benefits that free or enslaved English-speaking Blacks don’t. The Dapremonts are so absorbed in their insular world that they are initially oblivious to the winds of change brought on by the impending Civil War.

LEONIDE DAPREMONT, the headstrong patriarch of the family, leads a double life ??" he’s devoted to his wife, the beautiful maribone MODESTE, and his children; haughty BABETTE, rogue ALEXANDRE, and good son FRANCOIS. He runs La Place with an iron fist and accommodating heart. He doesn’t run it like the Americans do, but, rather, believes that every person, from overseer to slave, plays a key role and deems everyone an integral part of a bigger picture - commerce. The brunt of the plantation’s productivity rests on his shoulders, which becomes increasingly overwhelming for him as the War closes in. His relationship with Modeste becomes increasingly strained. On his business trips to New Orleans, he finds himself running more and more into the comforting arms of his confidante and amant, the inimitable MADAME VERONIQUE VALLANT. They were betrothed once, when they lived in Haiti, but Leonide broke off their engagement after he fell under the spell of Modeste, Vallant’s slave, who he freed and swept off to Louisiana as his wife. Vallant’s family, soon after, suffered financial hardship in L'île de Ganove and Veronique fled to New Orleans, where she becomes a coiffeur and revered madame. She hasn’t quite adjusted to her demotion in social status and harbors more than a little resentment towards Leonide that she wasn’t chosen as his wife. Now, as their renewed relationship grows stronger, the War causes them to choose political and social sides. Despite the fact that Leonide is on the “honorable” side, his duplicitous lifestyle may ultimately seal his fate.

Modeste tries to understand Leonide’s tryst with Vallant, and, while she realizes it is part of the culture, she, in her heart, doesn’t accept it. Eventually her loneliness and feelings of neglect lead her to form her own tryst with the handsome JOHN BRANFORD, an Anglo-American businessman who has moved to Cane River. They play a flirtatious game of cat and mouse, until Leonide catches them in an intimate embrace. All hell breaks loose, with every coil of the family unraveling thereafter. Snobbish Babette is mysteriously kidnapped and sold into slavery. Alexandre’s drinking and devil-may-care attitude lead him into a tussle with the wrong man and he becomes wanted. Francois develops an innocent crush on one of the house slaves, the beatific ZENA, but, when he asks for his family’s approval to free Zena, he discovers his family isn’t as open-minded and accepting as he’d once believed.

All the while, the dissonance of the Civil War increases the unease amongst the Creoles of color, ultimately shattering their cherished "Golden Era.” The War not only challenges their identity, but also begins to serve as a sort of cracked mirror for them, reflecting their decaying mores, society, and exclusivity. They are irrevocably pushed, on the gusts of War fumes, through a doorway that leads them to a barren road of broken dreams and misplaced idealism.