A review by easolinas
Dinner at Antoines by Frances Parkinson Keyes
4.0
If there's one thing that you know about Frances Parkinson Keyes, it's that she loved New Orleans. Though she was originally from New England, she made the Crescent City her home and inspiration.
So it's no surprise that "Dinner at Antoine's" drips with the sensual richness of that city in the last days before World War II. It's half murder mystery, half soap opera -- a murder is the complicating action of the plot, but it's got lots of affairs, lies, secrets and other fun things. The one thing that galls is... well, this was written in the late forties, so the racial aspects will make modern skins crawl.
Playboy Orson Foxworth introduces his niece Ruth to the rich'n'famous denizens of New Orleans -- especially beautiful Amelie Lalande, a self-absorbed widow whom Foxworth wants as a lover, but is willing to marry. Amelie's family is a burgeoning soap opera -- her elder daughter Odile is desperately trying to hide a debilitating disease, while younger daughter Caresse is on the verge of an affair with Odile's sleazy husband Leonce.
Then Odile spills wine on herself and rushes out of Antoine's, hysterical. And Amelie rejects Foxworth's proposal -- since Odile is so sick, she can't leave her poor invalid daughter alone.
Except Odile is then found in her bedroom. She's been drugged and shot through the heart with a pistol that was given to her by an ex-lover. Was it her selfish mother? Her jealous sister? The sleazy cheating husband who wanted to be rid of her? Her devoted mammy? The ex-lover who still passionately loves her? The lives of everyone around Odile are irrevocably changed before the person who killed her is revealed.
"Dinner At Antoine's" is in some way a love letter to New Orleans -- luxurious restaurants, beautiful clothes, passionate romance and some moderate decadence. Little shreds of New England prudery pop up every now and then, but Keyes' love for New Orleans shines out of every scene, whether it's the graveyards or the wild dancing at nightclubs.
And she crafts a pretty decent murder mystery, deftly juggling the police investigation with the soap-opera antics of some of the characters. There are a lot of passionate declarations of love, false accusations, broken engagements and other fun antics -- not to mention the luxuriant descriptions of houses, restaurants and clothing. But she ties off all the plot threads and clues neatly, in a way that doesn't seem too far-fetched, but is still baffling before you know what happened.
At first it seems like Ruth will be the protagonist, since she's a smart, independent young woman who is also an outsider to the group of suspects -- in fact, she's almost the only one with no motive at all. But it turns out to be more of an ensemble piece, with the perspective floating between Caresse, Foxworth, reporter Joe Racina and various other characters. Most irritating: Amelie Lalande, an aging ingenue who floats around in a cloud of pseudo-pious artificiality.
Unfortunately, there's an uncomfortable problem with "Dinner At Antoine's" -- while Keyes' depiction of African-Americans was probably pretty sensitive in 1947, it comes across as unintentionally racist today. The whole mammy thing is particularly awkward, but to Keyes' credit, she depicts Tossie as a warm and strong-willed person.
If you can look past the dated aspects of the narrative, "Dinner at Antoine's" is a delicious little novel that straddles the line between murder mystery and love letter to New Orleans. It makes one wonder why Keyes didn't write more mysteries.
So it's no surprise that "Dinner at Antoine's" drips with the sensual richness of that city in the last days before World War II. It's half murder mystery, half soap opera -- a murder is the complicating action of the plot, but it's got lots of affairs, lies, secrets and other fun things. The one thing that galls is... well, this was written in the late forties, so the racial aspects will make modern skins crawl.
Playboy Orson Foxworth introduces his niece Ruth to the rich'n'famous denizens of New Orleans -- especially beautiful Amelie Lalande, a self-absorbed widow whom Foxworth wants as a lover, but is willing to marry. Amelie's family is a burgeoning soap opera -- her elder daughter Odile is desperately trying to hide a debilitating disease, while younger daughter Caresse is on the verge of an affair with Odile's sleazy husband Leonce.
Then Odile spills wine on herself and rushes out of Antoine's, hysterical. And Amelie rejects Foxworth's proposal -- since Odile is so sick, she can't leave her poor invalid daughter alone.
Except Odile is then found in her bedroom. She's been drugged and shot through the heart with a pistol that was given to her by an ex-lover. Was it her selfish mother? Her jealous sister? The sleazy cheating husband who wanted to be rid of her? Her devoted mammy? The ex-lover who still passionately loves her? The lives of everyone around Odile are irrevocably changed before the person who killed her is revealed.
"Dinner At Antoine's" is in some way a love letter to New Orleans -- luxurious restaurants, beautiful clothes, passionate romance and some moderate decadence. Little shreds of New England prudery pop up every now and then, but Keyes' love for New Orleans shines out of every scene, whether it's the graveyards or the wild dancing at nightclubs.
And she crafts a pretty decent murder mystery, deftly juggling the police investigation with the soap-opera antics of some of the characters. There are a lot of passionate declarations of love, false accusations, broken engagements and other fun antics -- not to mention the luxuriant descriptions of houses, restaurants and clothing. But she ties off all the plot threads and clues neatly, in a way that doesn't seem too far-fetched, but is still baffling before you know what happened.
At first it seems like Ruth will be the protagonist, since she's a smart, independent young woman who is also an outsider to the group of suspects -- in fact, she's almost the only one with no motive at all. But it turns out to be more of an ensemble piece, with the perspective floating between Caresse, Foxworth, reporter Joe Racina and various other characters. Most irritating: Amelie Lalande, an aging ingenue who floats around in a cloud of pseudo-pious artificiality.
Unfortunately, there's an uncomfortable problem with "Dinner At Antoine's" -- while Keyes' depiction of African-Americans was probably pretty sensitive in 1947, it comes across as unintentionally racist today. The whole mammy thing is particularly awkward, but to Keyes' credit, she depicts Tossie as a warm and strong-willed person.
If you can look past the dated aspects of the narrative, "Dinner at Antoine's" is a delicious little novel that straddles the line between murder mystery and love letter to New Orleans. It makes one wonder why Keyes didn't write more mysteries.