"Exciting historical novel"
In 1932 at Andy's garage near Sayre, Oklahoma on Route 66,
a
rabid skunk bites station owner Andy Connors. Yates, a
person visiting the area, kills the animal, burns it, and
buries the ashes. Next he takes Andy to the nearest
hospital in Oklahoma City where the injured person will
reside for six weeks receiving shots. Andy pleads with
Yates to watch over his beloved Leona and his two
preadolescent children. Yates explains to Andy that he
owes
him for saving his life when he was a youngster and will
gladly do so. Leona and the children worry about Andy and are
uncomfortable with Yates staying with them. He feels he
can
handle anything except his attraction to Leona, who he
believes, is Andy's wife. When he finds out she is not,
but
looked upon as a woman living in scandal, he defends her to
the townsfolk who ostracized her. As Andy heals, Yates and
Leona fall in love and he knows she is too good a person to
be anyone's kept woman. This tale is an exciting historical novel that fans of the
Depression era stories like The Grapes of Wrath will want
to
read. The characters including passersby bring to life
living or traveling in the 1930s on the MOTHER ROAD as
Route
66 was called. The romance adds depth to the period
enabling the audience to gain insight into the morality of
the townsfolk. Though a murder mystery adds suspense and
is
used as an impetus to the romance, the story line is at its
strongest when Dorothy Garlock opens a panoramic view of a
bygone America. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted June 1, 2003
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