Secrets of the Bayou: A Girl’s Quest for Truth and Belonging with Author Jo Taylor

My guest today on the Online for Authors podcast is Jo Taylor, author of the book Margaret of Thibodaux. Jo is an obstreperous, retired ER Nurse who is likely an obstreperous writer too. She grew up with three stepmothers (not at the same time). She's lived on a boat and traced her genealogy back to the year 310 (maybe, probably, you know how genealogy is). She's been married for 33 years and all her hero characters are based on her husband, a hero in real life. Her first book, Postcards: Collected Poems and Short Stories, came out in July 2024. Margaret of Thibodaux, her first novel, released on March 18, 2025.

 

In Carole’s book review, she stated: 14-year-old Margaret is not going to let her father erase the memory of her deceased mother by bringing another woman (certainly not a stepmother) into their home. Her best friend, Honey tries to convince her there’s nothing to worry about. The new woman is a doctor after all, loved by the entire town. But for the past six years her mother has appeared at her feet and lulled her to sleep with her favorite lullaby. Margaret is convinced that couldn’t possibly continue if another woman occupies the master bedroom.

 

Jo Taylor masters this coming-of-age story which takes place in Louisiana during the summer of 1974. You can almost feel the heat of the bayou as Margaret and her friends solve the problems of the world on the swings at the water’s edge.

 

The local town medium is the one person Margaret feels can help her contact her mother to make sure their routine won’t change. But no medium, or talk with friends, or even pleading with her father can assure her things will be fine. It isn’t until she finds a poem at her mother’s grave that she begins on a path to a solution she can live with.

 

This is a story you’ll want to put on your TBR list.

 

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Join the Novels N Latte Book Club community to discuss this and other books with like-minded readers: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3576519880426290

 

You can follow Author Jo Taylor

Website: https://www.jotaylorauthor.com/

Substack: https://jotaylorauthor.substack.com/

https://x.com/JoTaylorAuthor

https://www.instagram.com/jotaylorauthor/

 

Purchase Margaret of Thibodaux on Amazon:

Paperback: https://amzn.to/463ocIY

Ebook: https://amzn.to/45I7GiE

 

Teri M Brown, Author and Podcast Host: https://www.terimbrown.com

FB: @TeriMBrownAuthor

IG: @terimbrown_author

X: @terimbrown1

 

Want to be a guest on Online for Authors? Send Teri M Brown a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/member/onlineforauthors

 

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