Madame Gigi
by Dennis Ward
Madame Gigi, the second book in the Gigi series, continues the epic story of Gigi’s life in America. When she reaches the shores of America in the spring of 1946 after surviving the Holocaust, foremost in her thoughts is reuniting with her new Cajun husband. Standing alone on the harbor dock, she is devastated he has broken his promise to meet her. After two decades in America, Gigi is a twice-divorced, penniless mother of five sons, and at forty years of age, she feels at the lowest point of her life. It is then that she renovates and opens a small, elegant bar for executive types in downtown Lafayette, Louisiana. Business is tepid until three gay boys spread the word that a beautiful French lady has a Parisian-style bar that welcomes gay people. Add three saucy drag queens to the mix and the bar becomes the hottest ticket between Houston and New Orleans. With the help of her right-hand man and soul mate Clarence, a handsome, disabled, gay veteran, she moves to a larger location and expands the cabaret shows. But the club’s success attracts the attention of a powerful man with unbridled ambition to become Louisiana’s next governor. He vows to shut down the popular nightclub and run Gigi out of Lafayette by any means—even murder.
Madame Gigi is a mesmerizing read that takes the reader on a page-turning journey of the unique culture of south Louisiana. The second book of the Gigi series is based on the life of Gisèle “Gigi” Carriton. The two stories will resonant long after the final page is read.
To learn more about the Gigi series and peruse Dennis Ward’s literary garden of books, plays, and short stories, visit DennisWardAuthor.com or DennisWardAuthor/Facebook.com.
Dennis Ward is an award-winning playwright and author from Lafayette, Louisiana. His personal essays, short stories, and novel excerpts have been published inSouthwest Review, Deep South Magazine, and Grey Wolf Publishing’s Legends. His friendship with Gigi Carriton inspired his first play, Chez Gisèle (2010), a drag-musical, comedy noir, which won as a finalist in the 2011 New Orleans Saints and Sinners Theater Festival. Her epic life story also fueled Ward to write his first two novels, Mademoiselle Gigi and Madame Gigi. In addition to his work on the Gigi series, Ward has written three additional plays, including The Roadkill Diner (2011),Big Daddy’s Last Dance (2016), and Finding Nelson Mandela (2017).
ISBN: 9781946160126
Softcover, 312 pp., © 2017
Release Date: August 15, 2017