An Evening with Jessica Alexander
Featured Book
Agnes, We're Not Murderers!
Lesbian vixens from another dead world thread through moon-drenched cornfields and opulent drawing rooms in this literary horror remix of iconic gothic sagas.
Agnes is wasting away. In a bed of velvet and silk, she dreams of death—and Mary.
Mary—a wraith with bloodstained gown and mouth—drips mystery and menace. She materializes beside a lake, beneath a pear tree, outside the window. She turns servants feral and plunges the manor into anarchy. Since her arrival, nothing is right. The maids snarl. The nights grow strange. Agnes swoons.
Her brother, Arthur, calls it a sickness. A curse. He stalks the halls with scissors in his fist. He wants purity and order. He’ll strike out the unintelligible. He is not the only one. Others have begun to stir—jilted lovers, disgraced doctors, moralists with sharpened knives. The disorder is spreading. It’s riotous. Contagious. They’ll purify the world in flame.
Written partially through footnotes and with a mystery of interwoven red text, Agnes, We’re Not Murderers! is an atmospheric gothic vampire journey for fans of Kathe Koja and Mark Z. Danielewski.
This book will be available for purchase at the event.
About This Event
CHB Lafayette and UL Lafayette’s English Department along with support from the Levy Humanities Series present Jessica Alexander for a reading and Q&A at 6:00 p.m. on Oct. 12!
Jessica will be reading from her solo debut Agnes, We’re Not Murderers. The metafictional tale moves between black and red text, with footnotes, also in red, written by a mysterious author. Partly taking place in Styria, the setting of Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s classic vampire tale, Carmilla, the black text follows Agnes as she is visited by the vampiric Mary, whose arrival heralds the spread of a strange illness. This contagion also extends into the footnotes, written from the United States during the Covid pandemic and offering a reflection on illness, grief, and queer life.
Seats are limited so please secure your ticket for the event through Bon Temps Tix – general admission is free and available until the start of the event (or sell out)! You can also order your copy of Agnes, We’re Not Murderers by 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 11. Books will be available at the event!
We can’t wait to spend this evening with you and Jessica!
About the Venue
Cavalier House Books - Lafayette
John and Michelle Cavalier acquired Beausoleil Books in the summer of 2024, bringing Cavalier House Books to Lafayette. At this location, CHB has worked to honor the former bookshop's legacy by building on what Beausoleil had begun in 2020. CHB's roots are in Denham Springs, where the business began in 2005 before opening its storefront in 2009. By 2024, the Cavaliers became a part of the Downtown Lafayette community by opening their second location. They have built their Lafayette team with Acadiana at the forefront, with John and Michelle even partnering with the Alliance Française to take French language lessons in order to build relationships with Francophone publishers and increase CHB's French language offerings. Lafayette has offered a warm welcome to the Cavaliers, including further connecting Michelle to her Cajun heritage and bringing her back to the language her grandparents lost. It is their hope to reinvest in the city all that has been granted them!
Visit store pageMore at Cavalier House Books - Lafayette
Storytime with Karly Pierre!
Join us for storytime! Karly Pierre will be at CHB Lafayette on Oct. 10 at 11 a.m. to celebrate Creole Culture for Kids with Soggy Like Cush Cush, Louisiana’s 2026 National Book Festival’s “Great Place” selection for young readers! Soggy Like Cush Cush is a wonderful tale of a gloomy, rainy day that turns upside down when Gran-moman takes Petite Marie on an adventure through town. Celebrate joy, Louisiana Creole culture, community, and the love of a wonderful grandparent in this gorgeous story about making every day count. Karly will read Soggy Like Cush Cush and have thematic coloring sheets available for the kiddos to enjoy! Reserve your spot and order your copy through Bon Temps Tix! Soggy Like Cush Cush is available to order as your ticket until 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 9. Copies will be available at the event!
Banned Books Trivia and Read-In!
This Banned Books Week, we’re teaming up with @librofm, Lafayette Citizens Against Censorship, and Banned Books Club to host Banned Books Trivia and Read-In on Oct. 10 at 3 p.m. We’ll learn more about Banned Books through Trivia and read our banned books! Attendees will receive a free audio copy of either Banned Together or How to Defend Books and Why 🎧courtesy of Libro.fm! We’ll also have a Trivia prize and goodies to represent reading Banned Books.
An Afternoon with Mary Manhein
Join us at CHB Lafayette on Oct. 18 at 1 p.m. for a Meet+Greet and book signing with Mary Manhein! Mary will be signing her latest book, A Call to Rowan, which is a story about Brown Wiggins, an inept assassin, who has been summoned to the small, southern town of Rowan in north Louisiana to eliminate an unnamed target. His arrival in Rowan follows the end of the Korean War and coincides with the lives of thirteen-year-old Marley Bledsoe and her older sister, Jolene. Daughters of a share-cropper, the two eventually take different paths for their future. Though the sisters and Brown Wiggins never encounter one another directly, Rowan's secrets are revealed through their lives and the lives of those who reside in the community. Like other small towns in the deep South in the '50s, this one is on the brink of profound change. RSVP for this afternoon with Mary Manhein through Bon Temps Tix! Copies will be available at the event!