Two coming-of-age boys, best friends, one White and the other Black, live extraordinary lives on a Louisiana sugarcane plantation in 1946 .... Twelve-year-old Billy tells a subtly funny, emotive and poignant story about his young life as he becomes aware of the social and economic forms of segregation and oppression in the early years following World War II. He finds himself accepted by both sides of a clearly delineated social and racial divide in the small community in Louisiana, at school and church, and on the plantation where his father is overseer. Billy speaks from his conscience,...

The year is 2015. John Strasberg, a doctor from Chicago finds himself on a journey of self-discovery for any information concerning his puzzling past as he ventures to Cane River, a small backwater town, recycled from the ashes of its past debauchery. Paula Smith is a descendant of the pioneering German family, The Berlins, who originated The Oaks Plantation, now an eleven-thousand-acre empire. Paula bears the weight of the damage of her forebears, ostracized from the town's society. Not only does John uncover the hidden, twisted truth of his origin, he also finds an unexplained connection in...

Seventeen year old Ben Bennefield, unwilling heir to the family farm looses his future to a bewitching cast of characters, each harboring secrets in the small, backwater town in Louisiana. A Full-Grown Man addresses the compelling themes of relationships, with a strong sense of place and time. For twenty-five years, Ben must traverse the course of his rocky life, with its mix of love and family misfortunes, to learn the lesson of life's unpredictability. (lst place winner, AFAF, Louisville, KY -- Nov. 7, 2009.