Showboat Soubrette
by Brodie Curtis
FROM STAR SHOWBOAT SINGER
TO PIRATE PREY ON THE WICKED RIVER!
Showboat singer Stella Parrot’s star rises in the Antebellum South with every sold-out performance along the lower Mississippi River. When a river pirate viciously assaults her, new friends Toby Freeman and John Dee Franklin foil the attack. However, the pirate’s family is bent on revenge.
Stella, Toby, and John Dee escape their riverboat with able assistance from young cub pilot Sam Clemens, only to be pursued by the notorious Burton Gang. As the trio runs for their lives, mortal perils await at every turn: a fierce storm, high-stakes gambling confrontations, deadly combat, and a cotton boat up in flames. Stella, a Cherokee Indian, and Toby, a free Black man, and their friend White man John Dee endure relentless racial prejudices and injustices in the gritty underbelly of the Wicked River while fleeing to New Orleans—where the Burtons will be waiting!
SHOWBOAT SOUBRETTE’s fast-paced lower river adventure chase features romantic showboat scenes and is unsparing in its exploration of the bigoted and sometimes lawless riverboat era.
'Curtis is also a master of description and atmosphere. The novel is vivid with detail from the dining room and theatre of the showboat to the whorehouses of New Orleans. Life on the Mississippi is in full view here, from river pirates to dock workers. Sailors, gamblers, and society ladies all get their fair share of attention, and despite the class differences, more social fluidity occurs than we might expect.'
~ Tyler, Goodreads 5* Review
Meet Stella, Toby & John Dee
SHOWBOAT SOUBRETTE is set in the Antebellum South. Its three young adult protagonists are in a safe and pleasurable riverboat environment until a violent attack forces them to flee into the harsh underbelly of the Lower Mississippi River. Absolute dependence on each other in a world of cruel social division and lawlessness forges a deep bond among the three.
STELLA PARROT is a Cherokee showboat singer, beautiful and gifted with a strong soprano voice that “was not classically pure, but it had a thrilling edge.” She is a star; her dream is to ascend to even greater heights, perhaps to match the Swedish Nightingale, the leading diva of the day.
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| Stella |
Stella is a survivor. As a young woman, she suffered sexual abuse before getting her chance to sing on stage. Even now as a star, she must overcome racial prejudice. If the show falls flat, “as a woman of color she’d take the blame.” Life in the spotlight is a knife’s edge for Stella, but her singing is top notch and her future is bright until a river pirate viciously assaults her. Two new friends, Toby Freeman and John Dee Franklin, come to her aid and she finds herself completely reliant on them for survival. Can she find her own inner strength to overcome mortal perils as the three flee from the river pirates? As her alliance with Toby and John Dee deepens, Stella begins to wonder if something, namely romance and passion, is missing in her life.
TOBY FREEMAN is a handsome and physically strong young Black man. Enslaved in his youth, he is free now, and his memories of the horrible realities of involuntary servitude often shape his reactions to situations. His emotional rudder is a strong sense of right and wrong.
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| Toby |
Toby’s essential conflict is to survive, and prosper to the extent he can, in a world of harsh social divisions. He conducts business successfully on the Lower River, arm in arm with his life-long White friend, John Dee Franklin. Yet, ever-lurking in Toby’s world are pervasive societal and institutional prejudices that can threaten his freedom or even his life at any time. Now, after the assault on Stella, he must run for his life and count on John Dee more than ever.
Reflections in quiet moments during the chase cultivate Toby’s yearnings for a place where he can love whoever he wants, free of racism. Can he find a place where he can prosper as a Black businessman, and maybe raise a family, even if that jeopardizes his partnership with John Dee?
JOHN DEE FRANKLIN is a charismatic White man with a passion for making money, whether by means of commerce or in the card room. He forges trading and gambling contacts up and down the Mississippi. He appreciates the company of beautiful women, turns a witty phrase and spins engaging yarns.
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| John Dee |
Toby Freeman is always at John Dee’s side and has been since they were young boys. A faint resemblance between the two men causes Stella to question whether they are half-brothers. Brothers by blood or not, Toby is the most important thing in John Dee’s life and maintaining Toby’s freedom in a world of institutional slavery is paramount to John Dee. John Dee will do just that by any means necessary, whether ruse or violence. But reconciling his love of Riverboat adventures with Toby’s dream of a better life may be impossible.
Being chased on the Mississippi by river pirates is John Dee’s greatest challenge yet. Can he provide the guile along with Toby’s strength to extract them and Stella from a grave predicament?
John Dee’s feelings for Stella complicate things further. He appreciates her beauty and grace but holds himself back because “we’re in a damn tough spot here.” Will he surrender to his passions and pursue Stella? Would doing so compromise his and Toby’s escape from river pirates, or their brotherly relationship?
My objective was to weave together Stella’s, Toby’s, and John Dee’s motivations, conflicts, and challenges into a tapestry of shared history and reactions to mortal danger. The three of them reveal bits of themselves as events unfold and evolve into a tight alliance which takes each character to new and sometimes unexpected places.
This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.
Raised in the Midwest, Brodie Curtis was educated as a lawyer and left the corporate world to embrace life in Colorado with his wife and two sons.
Curtis is the author of THE FOUR BELLS, a novel of The Great War, which is the product of extensive historical research, including long walks through the fields of Flanders, where much of the book's action is set. His second novel, ANGELS AND BANDITS, takes his protagonists into The Battle of Britain. Curtis’ third novel is set on a Mississippi Riverboat prior to the Civil War.
A lover of history, particularly American history and the World Wars, Curtis reviews historical fiction for the Historical Novels Review and more than 100 of his published reviews and short takes on historical novels can be found on his website: brodiecurtis.com.
Connect with Brodie:
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