Thank you to the publisher & Netgalley for an advance copy of this title! James Lee Burke is one of my all time favorite authors. He can literally paint a picture using sights, sounds, thoughts & even smells that transports the reader into the scene that is unfolding on his pages!

His latest Flags on the Bayou, is no different. Among the backdrop of the South during the Civil War, Burke manages to transplant the reader into the minds of conflicting characters who struggle with the new reality of what is unfolding.

This book is classic Burke, through and through, as characters compete for your emotions ranging from compassion to contempt!

Publisher Description
In the fall of 1863, the Union Army is in control of the Mississippi River. Much of Louisiana, including New Orleans and Baton Rouge, is occupied. The Confederate Army is in disarray, corrupt structures are falling apart, and enslaved men and women are beginning to glimpse freedom.

When Hannah Laveau, an enslaved woman working on the Lufkin plantation, is accused of murder, she goes on the run with Florence Milton, an abolitionist schoolteacher, dodging the local constable and the slavecatchers that prowl the bayous. Wade Lufkin, haunted by what he observed—and did—as a surgeon on the battlefield, has returned to his uncle’s plantation to convalesce, where he becomes enraptured by Hannah. Flags on the Bayou is an engaging, action-packed narrative that includes a duel that ends in disaster, a brutal encounter with the local Union commander, repeated skirmishes with Confederate irregulars led by a diseased and probably deranged colonel, and a powerful love blossoming between an unlikely pair. As the story unfolds, it illuminates a past that reflects our present in sharp relief.

James Lee Burke, whose “evocative prose remains a thing of reliably fierce wonder” (Entertainment Weekly), expertly renders the rich Louisiana landscape, from the sunsets on the Mississippi River to the dingy saloons of New Orleans to the tree-lined shores of the bayou and the cottonmouth snakes that dwell in its depths. Powerful and deeply moving, Flags on the Bayou is a story of tragic acts of war, class divisions upended, and love enduring through it all.

The book grows on you the deeper you go into the chapters. Once you get through the initial story setting you get immersed in the beauty Of Louisiana landscape which has been beautifully crafted by Burke.
Set in Louisiana during the Civil War, the novel tells the story of Wade Lufkin, a young man who has returned home from the battlefield to find his world turned upside down. The Confederacy is losing the war, and the Union Army is occupying the state. Lufkin struggles to find his place in a world that seems to have lost its way.

Overall, I really enjoyed Flags on the Bayou. It's a beautifully written and unforgettable novel that I would recommend.
My thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of the book for my unbiased feedback

Set in Louisiana in the fall of 1863 when the Union army was in control of the majority of the state, this beautifully written novel shows us the civil war as seen by both sides and by people of all social standing.

Under the masterful hands of Burke, scenes spring to life as do the many wonderfully rich characters. The story is told from several points of view (I admit I made a list of the characters to keep track), giving the reader a real feel for the many personal, social, economic, and cultural impacts of the war. The brutality of the times is hard to think about, but war is war, and there are casualties all around, both living and dead.

This is sure to be one of the best books of the year. Don't miss it!

My thanks to Atlantic Monthly Press who granted me access to a DRC via NetGalley. Publication is set for 7/11/23. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and are freely given.

Despite the absence of familiar characters like Dave Robicheaux and the Holland family, James Lee Burke fans will delight in the vivid prose and rawly defined characters in Flags On The Bayou.
Told from the viewpoints of several people in 1863 New Iberia, Louisiana, Flags introduces the reader to a hellish landscape of the war-torn south. A runaway slave, a harried constable, a proud female abolitionist, a crazed, cross-eyed confederate colonel, a rich landowner suffering from a failed duel and an alleged voodoo woman cross paths on their way to escaping the horror of war.
Flags On The Bayou is brave and bold, fraught with shootouts and failures, gripping in its intensity that only a master like Burke could produce.

♦️It is 1863 when the Civil War ravages America, the Union army has occupied the Mississippi River, and Louisiana is about to fall. Enslaved people are beginning to find some hope of being free. When Mr Suarez is found brutally murdered, Hannah Laveau, Mr Lufkin's slave, is suspected. Wade Lufkin was an assistant to a surgeon in the war when circumstances made him murder a Union soldier. When he comes to his uncle's plantation, he is fascinated by Hannah. So, when she is arrested, he fights with the local constable and bears its consequences. With the help of an abolitionist, Miss Florence Milton, Hannah escapes from the prison. On their way, they have to fight people who try to harm them, which include slave catchers and a pimp. Flags on the Bayou is a story of love, of enslaved people who want to taste freedom and of a heartless Union commander. It is about repeated fights with some unruly Confederates led by a diseased colonel.

💥The story is set around the end of the Civil War. The author has beautifully portrayed the difference between the blacks and the whites, the rich and the poor. It was heart-wrenching to learn about the inhuman torture done to the enslaved people because of their skin colour. While some whites, like enslavers, treated them like animals, others were abolitionists who fought for their freedom.

💥The book also tells us about the boundless love between an unlikely pair.

💥The story has quite diverse characters. It is told from the point of view of some main characters that, include blacks, whites, rich, poor, men and women. So, we get an unbiased perspective.

💥I had difficulty getting hold of the story because I was unfamiliar with the Civil War and some terms associated with it. It would have been quite helpful if an appendix had been provided so that non-Americans like me would have a clear idea about what words like blue bellies, red legs, Union leaders, and Confederates meant.

💥It is a beautiful book based on the Civil War, and readers who are interested in reading historical fiction can give it a try.

A view of the tail end of the Civil War in Louisiana, told from several distinctly different POV's, this is a brutal story that the author himself feels is his own best work. I've read 4 or 5 novels from the author, and he would know better than I. I had some difficulty with the writing style and the use of regional colloquialisms, and I struggled some times to match the characters with the dialogue.

This is rich, atmospheric, almost floral writing. The author is a master at what he does.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Set in Louisiana midway through the American Civil War, Burke introduces us to a colourful band of characters, including: a beautiful enslaved woman who may have committed murder and might also be a practitioner of voodoo, a syphilitic commander of renegade Confederate troops who is suffering from cerebral atrophy, a brave and stout-hearted abolitionist schoolteacher, an ex-battlefield surgeon disfigured in a duel and a low ranking law officer who's had some of his toes chopped off by a careless wood splitter. Yes, Burke has a knack for dressing up his stories with the wild, the mad and the disfigured but here he may just have surpassed himself.

I won’t attempt to summarise the plot here, but suffice to say there’s a lot going on. In fact, the tale is as magnificently colourful as the characters it features. It is brutal in its descriptions of the many violent acts perpetrated, occasionally graphic in a way that might make some readers flinch, but throughout the prose is rich beyond belief with a storyline that continuously bounces along at a lively pace. Some of the author’s sentences impact like a slap in the face, so brutal are they, but this is just JLB’s way. And to keep you on your toes, there are numerous references to historical events and literary figures, with even the odd Biblical citation being dropped in for good measure. The fact is, I spent a good deal of time dabbing the Wiki lookup feature on my Kindle just to ensure I wouldn’t get left behind.

The author has gone on record as stating that he believes this to be his best work. I think that’s a hard one to gauge. His Dave Robicheaux books are amongst the very best of crime fiction and Clete Purcell, who features in these books, is perhaps my favourite literary character. Add to this his novels featuring various members of the Holland family and a number of stand-alone pieces. Given the exceptional quality of virtually all of these offerings, how do you judge whether or not this book stands above the others? What I can say is that this is an amazing tale, brilliantly told by a man who is undoubtedly one of the outstanding talents still writing today. With Burke now in his eighty seventh year, who is to say how many more opportunities there will to pick up a new novel penned by this man. My tip is, enjoy the opportunity whilst you can.

This is an interesting read concerning the American Civil War as told by separate characters in each chapter. I was frustrated not knowing the names and where the battles took place. The Southern and Northern Army Generals with vigilantes were also part of the cast which would have been beneficial had I studied the war history.
As an Australian, it was hard to keep up with who was fighting who.
Overall it answered some questions I have about the so-called Red and Blue States in the present time and how a country can tear itself apart as it appears that the war was never finished.
However, I did like the characters and the descriptions of how people from both sides managed to survive living day by day amongst hell on a massive scale.
An independent review NetGalley / Atlantic Monthly Press

Wow, what a great and different book this is. Although for those that have read James Lee Burke before you will recognise his style. Flags on the Bayou is a story set in the end of the civil war but it revolves mainly around a few characters close to Spanish lake Louisiana. It is dark, really dark but there are some humor in it. The characters and their stories are great and sad. It is amazing what people can do if the circumstances are right, or maybe it should be wrong? I have been a fan of the written word by Burke since a couple of decades and I hope to see many more stories from this fantastic storyteller. If you get a chance to listen to him take it he is great fun to hear telling about his life and his stories. I must thank Atlantic Monthly Press, Grove/Atlantic, Inc. and Netgalley for once again letting me read one of James Lee Burkes books.

In the waning years of the Civil War, life in Louisiana is perilous. The Union Army occupies most of Mississippi and Louisiana and there are bands of brigands roaming the area, looting everything they can find. Between these Irregulars and the bluebellies, no one is safe. Wade Lufkin engages in a duel with a local sheriff, Pierre Cauchon, and the gun explodes in his hand, disfiguring his face. Cauchon is obsessed with Hannah Laveau, a slave related to the voodoo queen, Marie Laveau. Lufkin falls in love with another slave, Darla Babineaux. Florence Milton, a northern abolitionist, tries to save Laveau, who has been accused of murdering her slave owner. The story unfolds among multiple viewpoints, as the reader experiences each character's feelings while they interact. There are few writers today who can paint a picture as well as James Lee Burke. His elegiac portrayal of the dying Confederate cause has no equal.

Flags on the Bayou tells the story of several characters in Civil War-era Louisiana. Each character gets a turn telling their story and while it can be a bit confusing switching viewpoints so often, it does work. Hannah Laveau is an enslaved woman working on the Lufkin plantation and along with Florence Milton, an abolitionist schoolteacher goes on the run after she is accused of murder. The plantation owner's nephew, Wade Lufkin, gets pretty obsessed with Hannah and it turns ugly for him. Some of the other characters are a crazy diseased and deranged colonel, a former lawman of sorts, and another slave from a nearby plantation. I found the story very violent, and while that is what it was like during that time, it can be a bit hard to stomach. The characters were strong and the setting was well-written. War is never pretty and this story really shows that. I found it hard to put down and really enjoyed the afterward.

Many of James Lee Burke's previous novels have dealt tangentially with the scars left by the American Civil War on Louisiana, to my knowledge, this is the first novel in which he addresses this issue front on.

We find ourselves at the tail end of this bloody brutal conflict, there are a whole range of characters as our narrators: the spoiled son of a plantation owner and something of a pacifist scarred by a chance encounter with the enemy, a man employed to resolve conflicts involving slaves, an enslaved black woman desperate to find her child, lost during a skirmish, and a deranged, diseased Confederate Officer. If Louisiana is a jigsaw, at this point in time all the pieces have been tossed into the air and left to land where they will, so the characters find themselves desperately scrabbling between them, attempting to make sense of their new situation and lives. The Union has now occupied most of the state but is still allowing slave trading to continue, some renegade confederate units still hold out, but their brutality causes as much fear among those supposedly on their own side as in the enemy. In this context a slave unjustly accused of the murder of her brutal owner attempts to escape the help of a brave female idealist, the constable has a disastrous duel with the plantation owner's son and careless words cost innocent lives.

This novel is as brutal and as garish as the uncertain times it set out to portray so well, it is not for the fainthearted, sometimes I did feel it was a bit much, and the characters larger-than-life, a little too strident, detracting from credibility, but there's no denying that James Lee takes us on one hell of a ride, and it will keep you riveted until the end.

As confusion sets in at the end of the civil war Louisiana in particlilar is not sure what direction it will turn out. Told from the view point of several main characters this i a much different, but knowledgably written novel. There is no Dave and his demons. Still a classic Burke writing with deep atmosphere and smells.

Recommended to see another side of Burke at his best.

A choral book about Civil War and horror of the was. There's blood, sweat and sufference. It's thought provoking and gripping.
The first I read by this author I appreciated the vivid historical background, the fleshed out characters, and the sense of uselessness and death.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

Simply a brilliant book. James Lee Burke never disappoints, and this dramatic novelization of a Civil War horror is characteristic of his best work -- lush, ominous, wrenching but at its heart hopeful. Excellent work. Highly recommended.

At the end of Flags on the Bayou, esteemed author James Lee Burke states that this is his best work. I heartily disagree. For me, Flags is ugly and violent. I didn't care for much of the dialogue or the structure of the novel.
But I am not a great author, as Burke is. I will continue to enjoy his other works and hope that the best is yet to come.
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

Jaw dropping, riveting novel! Beautifully written with the turns and twist you least expect!!!
Once I picked this book up I could not put it down until I had read the last the page!!

Flags on the Bayou is set during the Civil War. It is told in multiple voices, and offers Burke's usual attention to the locale, characterization, and plot.
While the plot centers on the Civil War it is also a metaphor for war itself. The horrors and tragedy. The insanity of it all.

Burke is my favorite author and this book is brilliant, as one expects him to be.

Lyrical, terrifying cinematic and full of details about the terrors and deprivation of the American Civil War.

The author provides the perspectives of a variety of different characters from slaves to deserters and paints an indelible picture of the horrors of war.

A brilliant and unforgettable book.

Wow! Another magnificent novel from the pen of James Lee. Burke, who I consider not just the best living American writer, but a national treasure.

Flags on the Bayou, while set in 1863 Louisiana, isn’t so much a Civil War novel as it is a meditation on the follies of war, the upheavals it causes. Told from multiple points of view, from both black and white characters, it is a stunning look at the corrupting influence of war, and it’s associated absurdities, and the transformative effects it has on ordinary people. This may be Burke’s best writing yet.

My heartfelt thanks to the publisher and to Netgalley for allowing me the privilege of reading an advanced copy of one of the best books of the year.