GraceIn the east Texas town of Cold Springs in 1944, the community waits for the war to end. In this place where certain boundaries are not crossed and in a time when people reveal little about themselves, their problems, and their passions, Jane Roberts Wood exposes the heart of each of four families during the last year of World War II. Bound together by neighborhood and Southern customs, yet separated by class, money, and family, they are an unforgettable lot, vibrantly brought to life in this "delightfully perceptive and unabashedly romantic" novel (Sanford Herald). As the war grinds to an end, it becomes the catalyst that drives the inhabitants of Cold Springs across the boundaries that had once divided them, taking them to places both chaotic and astonishing. "A rare novel: intelligent, lyrical, devoid of coyness and manipulative plot turns-a book for old and young." -Austin American-Statesman "A genuine Texas treasure." -Dallas Morning News "Wood handles whatever she touches with delicate precision, and she leaves an impression, not of the bitterness of life, but of the tenderness of the human soul." -The New Mexican Jane Roberts Wood is the award winning author of The Train to Estelline, A Place Called Sweet Shrub, and Dance a Little Longer, all published in paperback by the University of North Texas Press. A recipient of the Texas Institute of Letters Award, and fellowships from the National Endowment of the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts, she is also a member of the Texas Institute of Letters and the Texas Philosophical Society. She lives with her husband, Dub, in Argyle, Texas. |
From inside the book
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Page 4
... young - will be coming home . Young , until lately . Now they are calling up men as old as forty- five for active duty . And all over town , men even older are trying to get into the War . Some are fathers , desperately trying to follow ...
... young - will be coming home . Young , until lately . Now they are calling up men as old as forty- five for active duty . And all over town , men even older are trying to get into the War . Some are fathers , desperately trying to follow ...
Page 12
... young , too young for war . The problem with his eye will keep him out , Grace tells herself , comforted by the thought . Grace and Amelia , these two friends who have known each other since kindergarten , go in solemnly . In all their ...
... young , too young for war . The problem with his eye will keep him out , Grace tells herself , comforted by the thought . Grace and Amelia , these two friends who have known each other since kindergarten , go in solemnly . In all their ...
Page 18
... young colored girl , a faithful retainer saving a white girl from a carpetbagger . In his mind , maids seem no more than female eunuchs , but now here is his mother's new maid , talk- ing about staying in the arms of her husband , in ...
... young colored girl , a faithful retainer saving a white girl from a carpetbagger . In his mind , maids seem no more than female eunuchs , but now here is his mother's new maid , talk- ing about staying in the arms of her husband , in ...
Page 21
... young — a rabbit ripped by the talons of an owl , a mouse caught in a trap . The cry of a child . When she hears that , she dresses frantically , puts on her coat and , like a magnet , finds her way to Dixie , her baby , her child . She ...
... young — a rabbit ripped by the talons of an owl , a mouse caught in a trap . The cry of a child . When she hears that , she dresses frantically , puts on her coat and , like a magnet , finds her way to Dixie , her baby , her child . She ...
Page 25
... young for the rest . " " Where do you think he is ? Your husband ? " " It wouldn't do for me to know . Might let it slip . " " Walter Winchell said we bombed Berlin yesterday . " " I heard it . Wish we could bomb Hitler 25 Grace.
... young for the rest . " " Where do you think he is ? Your husband ? " " It wouldn't do for me to know . Might let it slip . " " Walter Winchell said we bombed Berlin yesterday . " " I heard it . Wish we could bomb Hitler 25 Grace.
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Albertson Amelia Appleby arms aunts Balderidge Barbara blue Bobby Moore Bobby's boys bread pudding Bucy Burma Shave calls Cary Grant Celia chair Christmas Cold Springs color comes crazy dark Deep Purple Dick Morris Dixie Dixie's door dress drink Emily eyes face father feels front girl glass going grins Gypsy Dance hair hand head hears hurrying JANE ROBERTS John jumping kiss kitchen laughing leans forward leave letter Lieutenant Smith Little Brontës Little Rock looks maid Matt Robinson Maxine Maybeline minute Miss morning mother never night porch Private Russell pulls puts Robert Robert Moore Sandflat Schuster Sergeant shoulder sits smell smiles soldiers soon sorry sound stands steps sure swing takes talk tell Texarkana thing thought tonight town train turns voice wait walks watches wearing Wick Fowler Willie B.'s window woman wonders young