Review: The Gates of Evangeline by Hester Young

Audio

The Gates of Evangeline by Hester Young

Narrator: January LaVoy

Sept 1, 2015

Length: 14 hr 6 min

Category: Mystery

Provider:Penguin Audio

Presented by Audible

I won a signed hardcover copy of this book from T @ Traveling With T.  I’d like to thank the author, Hester Young and T.

The Gates of Evangeline is also one of SheReads Books of Winter 2016.

My Review (4 Stars: Liked It A Lot!)

The Gates of Evangeline is a thoughtful and entertaining debut novel by Hester Young.

The protagonist of this novel, Charolette (Charlie) Cates has visions.  They began after the tragic death of her four year old son.  The visions are from children needing help.  That is what draws her to a  wealthy family’s home, Evangeline, in Louisiana.

Religious and spiritual questions are raised in this novel.  It is a mystery with drama, twists and turns.  There is also romance.  Young does a great job in building her characters and presenting the Louisiana setting.

I enjoyed listening to this novel, presented by January LaVoy.  She has a sweet voice and did an excellent job with various accents.

The Gates of Evangeline is part of a trilogy, but can stand on it’s own.  I will be keeping my eye out for the next edition.

From the author’s website:

COMING FEBRUARY 2017: The Shimmering Road

Book Two of the Charlie Cates Trilogy

First Paragraph

Prologue

I can’t pinpoint the moment I cross over.  It comes slowly: the seductive darkness, my face and limbs dissolving into something weightless and fuzzy.  Then consciousness spread throughout me like caffeine. My senses come alive.

What Others Are Saying

First, I want to say how much I LOVED this book. I did. The spooky atmosphere, the Louisiana setting, the dreams- it all wrapped me up and kept me turning pages. – T @ Traveling With T

I love me some Southern family drama and books about wealthy people behaving badly, so it’s not surprising that those aspects of this debut novel appealed to me. – Sarah @ Sarah’s Bookshelves

About The Author (from book jacket)

Hester Young holds a master’s degree in English with a concentration in creative writing from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, and her short stories have appeared in Hawai’i Review and other magazines.  Before turning to writing full-time, she was a teacher in Arizona and New Hampshire.  Young lives in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, with her husband and their two children.