LUCKY SPOT, THE

by Henley, Beth

The place is Pigeon, Louisiana, the time Christmas 1934—at the low point of the American Depression. Reed Hooker, a compulsive gambler, has won a rundown rural dance hall in a poker game, and hopes that it will make his fortune. Assisted by the faithful Turnip and an underaged waif named Cassidy (whom Reed also won at cards and whom he has made pregnant), Reed has christened the place “The Lucky Spot” and is preparing for the grand opening. Cassidy, hoping that Reed will divorce his present spouse and marry her, has secretly arranged for his estranged wife, Sue Jack, to have Christmas parole from the prison where she was committed for doing away with Reed’s last ladylove. But as Sue Jack and Reed detest each other (or think that they do) her unexpected arrival starts the fur flying—particularly after the volatile Sue Jack, who is supposed to stay on the wagon, comes across both a loaded pistol and a jar of good southern moonshine. Complications multiply (except for the rather forlorn, weak-ankled Lacey), and the sinister Whitt Carmichael (to whom Reed owes money) turns up with a dispossess order. In the end The Lucky Spot proves not to be so lucky, but Reed and Sue Jack do discover that what they think is hate is really love—and the others, in one very funny way or another, also get their just desserts.