Only Charlotte

Summary

Only Charlotte unwinds a tale of entanglements, both amorous and murderous, in post-Civil War New Orleans. Lenore James, a discerning woman of independent means who has outlived three husbands, suspects that her brother, Dr. Gilbert Crew, has been beguiled by the lovely and married Charlotte Eden. Lenore knows that Charlotte’s husband is enmeshed in the re-enslavement schemes of a powerful, unscrupulous judge, and she sees Gilbert’s adoration of Charlotte leading to disaster. Inspired by seeing a production of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, Lenore adopts the role of Paulina for herself to discover how far Charlotte’s husband bears the blame for his wife’s fate and whether or not he is capable of atonement. In her process of unraveling the intricacies of the lives of others, Lenore finds that Gilbert’s love for Charlotte is, after all, his saving grace while Lenore’s passion for creative expression is her own.

In the Southern Gothic tradition, Only Charlotte inhabits an atmosphere of decadence and decay in which flawed and eccentric characters, ranging from the heroic to the despicable, are captured in narrator Katherine Parr’s mesmerizing performance. A stage actress and singer, Katherine Parr breathes life into every character and gives her rich voice to Lenore with a cadence that weaves sensuality and mystery with a thread of hope and possibilities. While portraying a particular 19th century woman chafing against the misogyny and racism rife in the South, Katherine Parr imbues Lenore James with the universal and timeless quality of women who face adversity and choose to speak for themselves.