Playing Carnegie

By Valerie Banfield

Description:

May 1950, Appalach1a. DALE JENNINGS’ future is made in the shade. He’s just months away from earning his college degree, and a promising career as a linguist will set his life on a grand course. He’s smart, he’s enthusiastic, and even better . . . he’s got a girl who sets his heart aflutter. If he could get her to buy into his potential, he’d be in Fat City.

CARLA LOVELESS’ dream hit a sour note when her father failed to return from his World War II assignment. When the post-war era ushers in prosperity, it sidesteps the Loveless household. Yet . . . try as she might to accept her downgraded situation, Carla can’t squelch the rhythm and the melody that nourish her soul.

Carla savors the informal, jazzy duets that characterize the stolen hours she spends with Dale. She thrives on his attention and affections, but he’s a smooth-talking college boy. Better to beware than to contemplate his unreal world.

The invasion of South Korea by its northern neighbor earns some headlines, but like everyone else, Dale disregards the event. It’s no big deal. Carla’s mother, shrew that she is, harbors the greater threat to Dale’s picture-perfect plans. He’ll figure it out. It’ll be copacetic. Everything will be swell.