Ray Lester

A Small Bouquet of Jasmine Ray Lester

Luther's destiny takes him from rural Texas to the French Riviera to exotic Tunisia before returning him home a victim of the Arab Spring, in this hilarious literary novel exploring the conflict between tradition and modernity and confrontation with change.

Luther sifts through his memories trying to make sense of the way his life has become entwined in the geopolitical events that are currently rewriting the equations that hold the world together...and to help others avoid his mistakes.

His story begins in Claytoncobb, Texas, population 1,643, where Luther struggles with his bigoted family and repressed homosexuality. He manages to escape by heading to college and is seduced by Richard, an older French man.

Luther joins Richard and lives glamorously amid the world of French antiques in Saint-Tropez before falling in love with Abdel, a married Tunisian man who introduces him to the dynamism and diversity of the Islamic world-a world that spins his head around and ultimately spits him out.

As Luther looks back at his life through the lens of failure, he finds the humor in every situation.