For many years, plantation farming and slavery were very important topics in the history of the state of Louisiana. The book, Rachel of Old Louisiana, by Avery O. Craven is about the life of a woman who herself is the owner of a slave-owning plantation in the early 1790s and late 1840s. In this literary work she is shown Rachel O'Connor's pure drive and determination despite the things she goes through in life. Rachel moved to Louisiana at the age of four, in 1778, with her mother, Rachel Hopkins Swayze, and her brother. , Stephen Swayze. Rachel's mother moved there after marrying a Bayou Teche planter, William Weeks, with whom she was expecting a son named David Weeks, on whom Rachel would in time depend. Rachel married Richard Bell around 1789 and bore him a son; after about three years of marriage Richard died leaving Rachel to raise Stephen alone (11). Rachel remarried in 1797 to Hercules O'Connor and moved to West Feliciana Parish where they were very poor and slowly began building property for a plantation. Rachel wrote “we only had supplies for two days” (12). Over the next twenty-five years Rachel lost both of her children, her husband, and Stephen Swayze; each of their deaths left Rachel with new problems. Rachel's brother left behind her two daughters, Clarissa and Charlotte, whom she cared for as if they were her own (14). Stephen Bell left her with her immense debts which were to be paid immediately in 1822. These were ultimately now to be paid by her mother, whose plantation was now held as security for the amount owed. So, to keep the plantation out of the hands of creditors, he then sold the land to his half-brother, David Weeks (16). Rachel finally thought of something... halfway through the paper...... 65). I liked Craven's use of sarcasm on page seventy-seven, where Louisiana is called a "fertile mud paradise." I find this a little funny because right at the beginning of the book the author mentions a list of diseases common in the state of Louisiana and how native insects carry these deadly germs (8). I also liked that Avery didn't write a formal biography of Rachel O'Connor because I think if she had, I think the reader wouldn't have been able to see Rachel's beautiful, compassionate, kind personality come through through her. letters. The only negative aspect of the book that I didn't like was the overlapping of years in the chapters because some topics would be discussed in two different chapters. Works Cited Craven, Avery O. Rachel of Old Louisiana. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1975. Print.