About
Boudreaux's debut novel, Mulberry, is the winner of the inaugural Lee Smith Novel Prize at Carolina Wren Press.
Born and bred in Mississippi, Boudreaux now lives in Amsterdam, Netherlands. She is visiting faculty in the Mississippi University for Women's MFA program. Her fiction has appeared in national and international journals. Her essays have appeared in print and online journals. Her bachelor’s degree in journalism is from Northeastern University, and her MFA is from from Mills College.
Featured Work
Mulberry
Mulberry is the story of a family in a segregated town in Mississippi in the early 1960s. The family hits a crisis when the mother must leave for a long stay at a faraway hospital to care for her youngest child who is born sick. She leaves the older four children in the care of their father, a WWII vet who spirals out of control and derails the family, dragging the children from one bad living situation to another. We view the details of the family's decline through the eyes of its astute and fiercely determined eleven year old daughter, Maddy, who struggles to wrestle herself and her three younger brothers away from the various dangers posed by their descent into deep poverty, neglect, sudden violence, and the poor choices of the father. Ultimately, this is a story about personal strength, resilience, redemption, and finding hope.
"Trust me. This is one book you have never read before..." novelist, Lee Smith
Other Works
Awards and Recognition
- The Lee Smith Novel Prize from Carolina Wren Press for southern literature 2014
- Independent Publisher Book Awards--Silver Medal, Best Fiction, South Region; Bronze Medal, Best Cover Design, National 2016
- Crook's Corner Book Prize, Short List Finalist, 2017
