New Heaven, New Earth by Arthemise Goertz -Very Good, 1953, HC, 319 pgs, Sears Readers Club

The story takes place in the bayou plantation country near New Orleans, a sheltered world populated by wealthy Creole aristocrats. These families willfully live in the past, actively denying the arrival of the modern era—including automobiles, telephones, and modern medical science—in favor of ancestral traditions and old superstitions.

The narrative follows Dr. Victor "Vic" Duquesne, a son of this aristocracy who returns home after serving as a military doctor in the Panama Canal Zone, where he helped battle yellow fever. His time in the Canal Zone has given him a progressive medical education and a social conscience. Upon his return, he is horrified by the poor health conditions of the local laborers and the stubborn refusal of his own class to adapt to the changing times.