Nobody's Here But Us: Looking for God In All the Wrong Places

By Mary E. Sims

"Nobody's Here But Us: Looking for God in All the Wrong Places" is a story about the difference between the truth and a lie, and how they can mold our lives and control every aspect of us. The prologue introduces a short story that replaces the Creation story in the Bible. Instead of "In the Beginning", it uses the fairy tale words "Once upon a time." The prologue sheds new light on the stories and fables that we have heard for most of our lives. The actual story takes place in the mid- 1800's, near New Orleans, Louisiana, during slavery. The main religion in the region is Catholicism. Some of the slaves practice Voodoo and worship the African god Dhumballa.

The main characters are twin freed slaves, Octavius and Octavia. Somehow, nature has given them the wrong bodies. He has more female hormones and she has more male hormones. This shows more as they get older. Their mother, Ma Onnie, bore seventeen children for her master, Jean-Claude. He grants her freedom because of the many children she has had. Her last set of twins; Octavius and Octavia have her quite worried. She has no idea how their lives will unfold because of the twins being "cursed with the wrong body". She sends Octavius to the church to learn the ways of the priesthood with Jean-Claude's son, Louis, and she sends Octavia to the Voodoo queen, Renee, to learn the Dark Art.

Louis, the Master's son, is confused like Octavius about his sexuality and they begin a long-term relationship that continues while they are studying for the priesthood. Ma Onnie is unaware of how she has opened the gates of Heaven and Hell on Earth. The children embark upon a journey of a lifetime as they uncover many secrets and lies from the slaves and the masters of the plantation. They have to decide what is really the truth, but will they find out that the truth and a lie are only different sides of the same coin? The approaching Civil War is the Great Equalizer in the story. The thought of freedom comes with a great price. The South lost all to rebuild a new way of life for the slaves and the freemen. Truth and Freedom walks hand in hand, as some of the characters in the book finally realizes their dreams

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1500962074
• ISBN13: 9781500962074
• Release Date: October 2014
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 262 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"