This has been a turbulent year filled with tragedy. People everywhere are desperate for an escape and to find light in the darkness. Knee Deep provides the perfect get-away. It’s a Hurricane Katrina love story that offers an important message – whether it’s a pandemic or a hurricane, love can transcend any disaster.
Named after a hurricane, Camille is the rebellious sixteen-year-old daughter of a New Orleans bar-owner who grows up in the shadow of Bourbon Street, raised on stories of hauntings, lusty encounters, and voodoo magic. And even though her family loses their home in a hurricane, she counts herself among the lucky until she discovers that her eighteen-year-old neighbor whom she secretly loves goes missing in the storm. In Camille’s own words:
“This is the story of what happened to me on Fat Tuesday, how I ended up on the steps of St. Mary’s, the hem of my pirate’s petticoat soaked in somebody else’s blood. Although I know the story to be true, I don’t totally believe it myself. Like all good tales born out of the bayou, mine involves the dead, the living and the one trapped in the brackish waters between heaven and hell. It is the story of true love and true disaster, and at the end of it, I’ll leave it to you to decide which is harder to survive.”
Camille’s story unfolds as a Mardi Gras memoir, one girl’s journey through the parties and the parades as her community comes together and rises up from the chaos following the devastating storm.
Release Date: September 25, 2020
Publisher: Regal House Publishing
ISBN: 9781646030095
This coming-of-age book is a must-read regardless of how old you are. Described as Ladybirdmeets A Streetcar Named Desire, Knee Deep is a creative blend of modern romance and realism laced with paranormal elements and French Quarter flare.
Author Karol Hoeffner, artfully depicts the perils young love, interracial romance, and the experience of a teenager during Hurricane Katrina. Knee Deep is a beautiful and deeply moving ode to New Orleans. Although the message is profound, Hoeffner’s first-person narrative voice makes the book engaging and accessible. The storyline is fast-paced and suspenseful forcing you to procrastinate everything else to get to the end.
The book is surprisingly uplifting despite the disastrous events. Knee Deep gives an optimistic message of hope and healing. It reminds us that the power of love can transcend tragedy and can weather any storm.
“Hoeffner takes the gumbo of New Orleans’ people and culture and mixes them into something wonderfully unexpected. Her love for the city and her characters sings on every page.”
– David Clawson, author of My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen
Karol Hoeffner is the Chair of Screenwriting at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. She has fourteen film credits including Mary Kate and Ashley’s Winning London and MTV’s All You’ve Got, several Danielle Steel adaptations, a television mini-series Harem, movies-of-the-week based on true stories – The Making of a Hollywood Madam and Miss America: Behind the Crown. Among her other credits are the original movies, Voices from Within andBurning Rage. She has penned two young adult novels, All You’ve Got and Surf Ed.
For More Information Visit:
www.regalhousepublishing.com/