Ronlyn Domingue of Lafayette, who received her master’s of fine arts in creative writing from LSU, has been tackling an impressive, innovative and intricate trilogy spanning a thousand years in a fairy-tale land in “The Keeper of Tales Trilogy.” She began with a second person narrative in “The Mapmaker’s War,” followed by the introduction of heroine Secret Riven and her gifts of speaking with animals and trees and seeing into the past with “The Chronicle of Secret Riven.” This month “The Plague Diaries” concludes the series, as Riven represses her telepathic powers while working for the magnate Fewmany’s private library and falling into his lavish lifestyle, only later understanding her connection tied to the region’s history.
In the trilogy’s second book, Riven’s mother dies mysteriously after receiving an arcane manuscript she has been hired to translate. In this latest book, Riven finds the manuscript in Fewmany’s library and believes that her ability to translate what her mother could not might lead to answers about herself, her mother, the war that occurred so long ago and the symbol she has dreamt about and discovered in mysterious places.
If it sounds complicated, it is, which is why Domingue includes footnotes in this her latest novel, clues to peruse the previous books and recount what readers may have forgotten. And if you haven’t read the books to date, I recommend buying all three to read together, like a Netflix binge. It’s an amazing body of work — adventure, myth, legends, and symbolism spun together in a tapestry of tales that are colored with a fascinating use of language.
Domingue will sign copies of “The Plague Diaries” at 4 p.m. today (Sept 17) at the Baton Rouge Gallery in Baton Rouge and from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 23, at Barnes & Noble Lafayette.
Want to read reviews of the previous books in the series? Click here for the Louisiana Book News’ review of “The Chronicle of Secret Riven” and here for the review of “The Mapmaker’s War.”
University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press has published two new books – “Angels in the Wilderness: Young and Black in New Orleans and Beyond,” a collection of Crescent City stories about young African Americans by William Barnwell and “Scopena: A Memoir of Home” by former U.S. representative and Louisiana Gov. Charles “Buddy” Roemer. Barnwell will sign books at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Ashé Cultural Center and at 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 26, at Octavia Books, both in New Orleans. Roemer will sign copies of his book at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Octavia Books, 1 p.m. Saturday at Books-A-Million in Baton Rouge’s Town Center and at 6 p.m. Sept. 28 at Barnes and Noble Baton Rouge-Citi Place, at 1 p.m. Sept. 30 at Barnes and Noble Baton Rouge-Perkins Rowe and 2 p.m. Oct. 17 at Barnes and Noble, Shreveport.
Book events for the week of Sept. 17-23
Monroe author Jamie Mays will speak at 5:30 p.m. Monday at the Main Branch of the Ouachita Library in Monroe.
Christopher Kelly signs “America Invaded: A State by State Guide to Fighting on American Soil” at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Garden District Book Shop of New Orleans. Also at the store is Patty Friedmann, author of “An Organized Panic: A Novel” at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Michelle Norwood, a notary public since 2012, will present “The Louisiana Notary Public” at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon, Metairie. This event is free and open to the public.
Louisiana genealogist and historian Jari Honora, who worked on the Georgetown Slavery Project and the PBS series, “Finding Your Roots,” will discuss methods of tracing enslaved ancestors and slave owners and their descendants from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday at Nicholls State University. The talk is part of the Ellender Memorial Library’s traveling exhibit from the Historic New Orleans Collection, “Purchased Lives: The American Slave Trade from 1808 to 1865.”
New Orleans native Dean Baquet, executive editor of The New York Times, will talk about the political and financial pressures on American journalism beginning at 5 p.m. Friday at in the Grand Salon of the Ogden Honors College’s French House at LSU. Tickets are not necessary for this roundtable conversation that’s open to the public.
Karen Wallsten, author of “The Adventures of Shiko and Walter: A Southeastern Louisiana Backyard Tale,” will host storytime at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at The Conundrum bookstore in St. Francisville.
Cheré Coen is the author of the “Viola Valentine” Louisiana paranormal mystery series under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.
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