Brief

Morris Ardoin looks back on his bittersweet childhood in Cajun Country in the 70s, spent with his many siblings and abusive father as their family ran a local motel.

What We Liked

This book features an incredibly interesting and engaging writing style, an honest and likable narrator in Morris, and a constantly riveting plot that ebbs and flows with the writer’s life experiences. There’s a quality about this project that feels almost stream of consciousness. That quality contributes to how earnest, real, and authentic these experiences all feel. It’s impossible to guess where this book is going next, and it makes for a memoir that surprisingly keeps readers on the edge of their seats.

Film: Because this book is so structurally loose, it would need a little structural work before it worked as a feature film, but the potential is definitely there. Morris is an excellent protagonist and narrator, and watching these characters grow up would provide the feature with a satisfying beginning, middle, and end. There are a number of climactic pivotal moments that would make this book a perfect feature film adaptation filled with complex relationships, the love of family, and bittersweet childhood memories.

TV: This book is perfectly primed for TV adaptation. The world is wide open and full of episodic possibilities. There is also such a huge cast of interesting characters. It’s easy to imagine this world being fully explored through many seasons of television that focus on the family drama between characters, Morris’ exploration of his sexuality, and the interesting everyday moments spent at the motel.

Key points:
1. Excellent characters.
2. Nuanced and complex family relationships.
3. Strong writing style.
4. Engaging plot.
5. Honest and powerful exploration of core themes.

Synopsis

We follow young Morris as he and his family break horses, cruise in their new Cadillac, buy the motor hotel from the Melancons’ and learn that it will be the family’s new home and workplace, play canasta with siblings around the dining room table, and trace the start of peace and calm in the world back to staying at Memere’s house. After a series of renovations, the family begins to settle in the motel. But tragedy strikes when it catches fire around the holidays. The family gets out safely, but there’s a significant amount of damage to the hotel. Thankfully though, the motel still stood, as did the house where the family was living.

The family and the motel were never quite the same though. When Morris chiseled a piece of stone from the burnt hotel column, his father whipped him as punishment. Soon after, Morris met Billy Joe, Memere’s new man who she found after the death of her beloved husband. Billy Joe was engaging enough, but he drank and was often cruel to Memere. On a hunting trip with Andy and his father, Morris saw his father as a hero when he successfully drove their Apache to safety through the pouring rain after a hunting trip. Daddy was a hard, intense man, but he loved his children and they loved him. Morris didn’t particularly enjoy hunting, and when he came face to face with a vulnerable doe, he found he couldn’t pull the trigger. Morris enjoyed going crabbing more and called it a perfect day. The happiness didn’t last long. After a particularly brutal beating from his father Morris went to stay with Memere for a while.

When he got back, life went on. The kids played cards, did chores, Morris fetched candy and groceries from the store and his sister cleaned the motel, and they all had various interactions with guests of the motel. Most customers didn’t leave a mark, but Morris explains that some of them were incredibly memorable, such as the couple who abandoned their cat at the motel, the man who was actually a woman, and the man who died of a heart attack in his car.

In a chapter from Zanny’s perspective, readers learn that he suspects Morris of being “soft” and he plans to force him to be a proper man. Morris and the other kids realize that their father is hard on Morris, but they don’t know why. They discuss this fact over a game of Monopoly, while Morris tells them about helping their ailing elderly neighbor eat five spoonfuls of soup.

In another July adventure, the kids all help a neighbor pick figs and Morris reflects on the fact that long after both his parents were dead and buried, there were still a couple of jars of figs in the pantry.

At a summer camping trip, the kids bonded with their Uncle Roy and learned all kinds of details about their father. Uncle Roy was masculine and tough, and he made Morris feel anxious about his own lack of masculinity. Before heading home on the eve of Thanksgiving, Morris was able to shoot a squirrel though, which made him feel a little better. On the way home, Morris couldn’t hold his bladder and peed before making it to the toilet. He was so relieved though that he felt blissfully happy instead of embarrassed.

In an effort to be more like Andy, Morris went out with his brothers to try and catch a wild hog. They didn’t catch one, but the day did make Morris appreciate his big brother as someone who has always looked out for him.

At 14, Morris kissed a visiting girl. It was a thrill, but it eventually made him realize and become okay with how few kisses he would share with the opposite sex.

At 15, Morris asked his mother for a job at the National. While there as a cashier, Morris became smitten with another male employee. He knew then that he was never going to get married and have kids. He was headed for another path. Soon after getting his job, Morris was able to buy a car. The independence changed his life.

Memere’s life changed too. After 10 years of abuse and alcoholism, she finally left Billy Joe. But loneliness plagued her and made her consider taking him back.

With age, the siblings started to go down their own paths and mature. Gilda hit her head in a car accident, but she was ultimately fine. The kids all realized their days of sitting around the kitchen table playing games were over.

When Morris went off to school at LSU in Baton Rouge, he would come home on the weekends and spend time with his family. During an evening with his mother, she revealed that she had wanted to leave Morris’ abusive father for years and that she desperately wanted to sell the motel. It wasn’t meant to be though, and soon after, she died in a terrible car accident. It was her fault. She just hadn’t been paying attention.

All of the family mourned Eliza Mae in different ways, and Memere had to go live in a nursing home. When Morris went there to say goodbye to Memere, he brought David, the man he was with. He wanted Memere to know he wasn’t alone, that he had someone to love.

Years later, the kids would have Zanny put in an assisted living home. He just wasn’t capable of taking care of the motel anymore. In an epilogue, Morris recalls his final meeting with his father and what became of his siblings. Because of his family, his heart is full.

About The Author

Morris Ardoin now lives in Manhattan and Cornwallville, New York with his husband and their dog. His career and life have been filled with writing working with a number of nonprofit organizations, travel, and cooking.