Sweet As Cane, Salty As Tears

Thirty years after arriving as a 20-year-old in New York City, time rushes back towards Katherine Fontenot. She tried to run from her family in Louisiana, but if she loses her job, if her sister dies, what is she going to do? Her younger sister, “the sane” one, gets gored by a rhinoceros, which after escaping the zoo where Karen-Anne was looking after it, was shot and killed. Much more than her work, the Fontenot family is the heart of this book, and the family lore – the same stories that get told every time, but still make people laugh – get told yet again, for the younger generations to inherit. But more personally, about a third to half of “Sweet As Cane, Salty As Tears” is actually flashbacks, Katherine seeing something, hearing or smelling or sensing, remembering what she left behind.

The Fontenots moved from the country – their house was pretty much off the grid – to the town. They really are normal people, which is not a bad thing at all: good fiction turns such deserving people into heroes representative of the everyday. The core family here was made up of Mama (Beverly) and Daddy (Kurt Senior); Kurt Junior, who after he comes back from Vietnam doesn’t say or do much, but they give him his space; Karla-Jean, “the religious one” and the second to get pregnant shortly after the next-in-line, Kendra-Sue, “the mean one.” Kendra-Sue makes the most effort to keep in touch with Katherine, but doesn’t miss an opportunity to make her feel guilty. Katie-Lee comes next, our narrator, followed by Karen-Anne, the scientist; then, to break the pattern of “K” names is Joseph, baby Joey. But they also mention Kane – who was Kane? You have to read to find out. Katherine was married to Howie, believing it was out of convenience for both of them, but she’s unhappy with the decision and ends it. It’s not clear for a while what her history is with Lawrence, from home in Louisiana.

The setting is very important; as mentioned, the flashbacks make up much of this, before the actual trip south. The seediness of New York is also important in Katherine’s development, but it’s Louisiana that holds things together. For example, they eat lots of Popeyes, the closest thing to real Cajun food. For full effect, try reading this in James Carville’s voice, or similar (if there is a similar). The siblings and their extending families all have some relationship with religion, bringing in more tension. For most of her life, Katherine goes to the bar or takes pills when in trouble, but her real addiction is her phone, and Facebook. She wonders, do her siblings have the same problems, the same fears? This book is well-edited, neither drags on nor rushes, and it’s funny – there is enough humor to cut the sadness of the situations. A really good book I’d read again and recommend as a good read.