"Set on the Louisiana coast in 1957, Oyster recounts the tale of a deadly rivalry between two families. To avoid ruin after declining years of oyster crops, Felix and Mathilde Petitjean offer their young daughter, Therese, in marriage to 52-year-old Horse Bruneau, who holds the papers on their boat and house. Bruneau has spent his life as Felix's rival for both the Petitjean's century-old oyster beds and, as we learn, Mathilde.

But as Therese explains to Horse one night as they float in a pirogue alone in the marsh, "I don't get bought for the price of no damn boat.""--BOOK JACKET.