Book 1, Summer's Dust Summary

The first chapter of Half of Paradise by James Lee Burke focuses on Avery Broussard. Avery Broussard is the first character mentioned in the book and one of the three main subjects in the book. Broussard is a relatively young man, returning home from a six month stint on the oil rigs. Broussard had left the farm in rural Louisiana to see a bit of the world. For six months Broussard worked on the rigs on the Gulf Coast, but now the job was done. Broussard has mixed feelings about leaving the Gulf and returning to the family farm, a place once glorious but now on the verge of bankruptcy. Broussard spent the last of his money on a bottle of booze to drink on the way back to the farm. Broussard's drinking has worsened since he left the...