The Next Step in the Dance

Paul Thibodeaux is an handsome young man married to Colette, the most beautiful woman in the small Louisiana town where they grew up. For Paul, life is complete: a wife he loves, machines to repair, and a lively local dance hall. But Colette wants more, and when she sets off for California in search of a better life, Paul follows her there and back, waiting to see if she'll change her mind about him. In the meantime, the oil bust of the '80's has destroyed their hometown, and Paul and Colette must salvage not only their marriage but their livelihoods. How they do this, and come to realize the importance of family, home, and marriage, makes for a novel that is at once an adventure, a love story, and moving portrait of a place and a culture rarely explored in contemporary fiction.

Tim Gautreaux writes with wit, compassion, and a sharp eye for the details that make us who we are, where we are. His first novel is the triumphant confirmation of the talent so widely acclaimed in SAME PLACE, SAME THINGS.