Set in New Orleans, CAMELLIA SEASON is a laughter and tears, coming-of-age story about Cherie, who longs to escape the clutches of her crazy French mother. Cherie’s touchstone is her Wordless Diary, coded with illustrated numbers only she can understand. Beginning in 1965, we follow Cherie and her friends over five years, as they grow up amid the glorious magic and dangerous mayhem of the city's streets. Nourished by the dark gumbo of local culture, Cherie and her krewe both thrive and are crushed among the poets, painters, and predators that lap up the town.