Character Spotlight ~ Patti Lacy's Sally Stevens

Today the spotlight shines on............................................................Sally Stevens


Patti Lacy has written another thought provoking novel in recently released, What the Bayou Saw, tackling racism and journeying to healing and restoration. I hope you enjoy this behind the scenes look.

Thanks, Patti:~

Brief physical description:

Sally’s hair has been bleached so many times, it’s hard to call it blond, brunette, or red. She wears it in the shag style, so popular in the 1970s. College tennis and the joy of jogging kept Sally in shape for decades, but her propensity for nervous nibbling has added a few pounds (okay, twenty or thirty). Luckily, Sally carries her weight well on a five foot, eight-inch frame.

Actor/famous person who might resemble her:

A taller, less blond Sally Struthers.

Strengths and weaknesses:

Women flock to Sally and her chatty, easygoing ways. Students love her, too. Somehow Sally draws out even the most reticent folks and finds a way to politely button the lips of motormouths.

The worst thing her critics can say is that she’s too nice, too chatty, a bit spacy.

What they don’t know is that Sally’s smile masks a past buried deep in the sludge of a Louisiana bayou. For several decades, Sally has done everything necessary to keep that past hidden, including lying to anybody and everybody. The truth is, nobody really knows Sally—not her Bible study “girls,” not her precious kids, not even her loyal husband Sam. Will she have the courage to dredge up her past—and make atonement for acts of betrayal and cowardice?

Background to the story

Segregation and a chain link fence separated twelve-year-old Sally Flowers from her best friend, Ella Ward. Yet a brutal assault bound them together. Forever.

Thirty-eight years later, Sally, a middle-aged Midwestern instructor, dredges up childhood secrets long buried beneath the waters of a Louisiana bayou in order to help her student, who has also been raped. Fragments of spirituals, gospel songs, and images of a Katrina-ravaged New Orleans are woven into the story.


Thank you, Patti ~ another moving story from you, I see! Thanks for the extra insight into Sally :)


On Thursday, I will be spotlighting Robin Lee Hatcher's Guinevere Arlington & Morgan McKinley from A Vote of Confidence ~ can't wait!

Relz Reviewz Extras

Character spotlight on Patti's Mary Freeman

Visit Patti's website

Buy Patti's books at Amazon or Koorong