Lois Barrett takes her characters
to hurricane country

It is not an easy life being a character in Lois Barrett's
historical fiction. She has previously placed Campbell Smith
in the middle and in the aftermath of the
great earthquakes of 1811 and 1812.

Now she is sticking her characters in the middle of the
devastating hurricanes on the Texas coast in 1875 and
1886 in her book "Gulf Coast Love Affair."

Barrett divides her time between two towns, Harrisburg
and Cuero, Texas. When in Southern Illinois her mind
is on earthquake history and when in Texas she writes
about tropical storms.

Barrett bought a house in Cuero, Texas, that had been
moved there from Indianola, Texas. Many houses
moved inland after a hurricane in 1886.

"It was wiped clean to the sand," Barrett said.

She decided to take the Smith family from Boston to
the west and place them in hurricane country.

Barrett researched historical hurricanes, especially the
ones in 1875 in Galveston, Texas, 1886 and 1900 that
destroyed the homes of 8,000 people.

She became fascinated with the psychology of coastal
people.

"I was researching why people keep going back to the
coast," Barrett said.

She came to believe that even though destructive
storms are almost guaranteed, the sense of home and
belonging overcomes the fear.

Barrett's husband pointed out to her risk is everywhere.

"I keep coming up here for the earthquakes just like
people move back to the hurricanes," she said.

While coastal residents have a love affair with the
coast, Barrett's main characters pursue a love affair of
their own, one of a forbidden relationship due to
religious conviction.


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