abortion.
privilege.
southern.
green raincoat.

So I decided to gave Grau another chance. The house on Coliseum Street is located in New Orleans, LA and the occupants are a mother, her husband, and the mother's five daughters. The narrator of the story is the eldest daughter, 20-year-old Joan Mitchell.

The matriarch of the family, Aurelie Caillet, is a true southern belle to the very core of her being. Aurelie was by far my favorite character. She has been married five times having a daughter with each husband. Aurelie's current husband, Herbert Norton, is an alcoholic that never leaves his upstairs apartment. The women act as if he doesn't exist until he causes a problem or the delievery boy arrives with his daily liquor supply. They live a life of privilege. Joan is the most privileged because her father was the richest of all Aurelie's husbands. In Aurelie's words he was also the most dull.

Joan and Doris were the only daughter's that lived at home year round. The younger siblings were away at school. Joan was dating Fred Aleman while Doris dated randomly. One of Doris dates took an interest in Joan. Michael Kern was a professor at the local college where Joan took classes and worked at the library. They went out on a few dates. Then it happened. The "happening" brought forth a seed. The next turn of events Joan described as happening so casually and somewhat like a ballet. Michael was anxious and scared for his job. Aurelie never screamed. She just handled it. Joan was sent to her aunt's home. Everything was well orchestrated. Joan left empty.

Joan and Michael did not have a love story. He was happy the problem was solved and moved on. Fred was pushed aside. Joan became "disturbed" and obsessed. Michael came back to Doris. Joan got "sweet" revenge.

The going ons within the The House on Coliseum Street were miscellaneous. This story reminded me of We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. Joan's character was aloof and distant like Merricat in We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Joan was not as sharp as Merricat was by any means. Considering Joan had an abortion during a time when they were illegal and looked upon as extremely taboo, Grau never really showed the depth of Joan's emotions afterward. We read her "reactions" but never got to read how she really felt. No one's relationship had any depth whether between family members or lovers.

I expected Grau to make the city of New Orleans a character like most authors who have stories set there but instead she made the house a character. I noticed two common themes that Grau used in The Keepers of the House and The House on Coliseum Street: white privilege and revengeful women. The House on Coliseum Street started out five stars but progressively got worse. ( )

Shirley Ann Grau, if anyone is aware of her at all, is best known for her 1965 Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Keepers of the House, but when I saw a first edition copy of her 1961 novel, The House on Coliseum Street on sale for $1.00 at a used book store, I immediately grabbed it and started reading.

The whole book drips of a Tennessee Williams play, especially the character of Aurelie Caillet. She’s a classic New Orleans eccentric who has had four daughters to four different husbands, the last of which, an alcoholic, lives alone on the third floor of the house. But the protagonist is her daughter, Joan, and it’s hard not to give anything away because it’s such a short, condensed book, but it does deal with Joan’s sexual awakening and what could be considered some pretty racy issues at the time of its publication in 1961 - premarital sex, abortion, bisexuality, etc., a little human drama that’s very haunting and melancholic. Definitely a keeper of a book.