A novel set in Greensboro, Vermont in 1970. This is the story of Luke Simms, a 19-year-old who works for the local lumber mill and cares for his ill mother in their rundown farmhouse on the outskirts of town. Luke has a low draft number and is waiting for his army induction notice. He assumes that after boot camp he will be sent to Viet Nam. He carries the family burden of his deceased father being dishonorably discharged from the service after WWII. When delivering a load of lumber to the building site for a controversial new house on Caspian Lake, Luke unexpectedly meets Sarah Clements, the beautiful and talented daughter of the powerful federal judge who has purchased a long piece of prime shoreline. The judge plans to develop the rest of the property against the wishes of many locals. Sarah and Luke fall deeply in love and enjoy a romantic summer together before he leaves for boot camp and subsequently, to fight in Southeast Asia. They hope to reunite after his military service, but due to a breakdown in the army's mail system, their letters to each other are lost, leaving them both feeling the other has forgotten about them. Luke's mother dies, and with him assuming he has also lost Sarah, he re-enlists for additional tours in Viet Nam. By the time he returns to Vermont, he is devastated when Sarah tells him she is marrying Richard Worthington, a wealthy attorney from Washington. She holds her bachelorette party at the lake house in Vermont and convinces Luke to meet her in the horse barn where they first made love. Their passion is reunited, but Sarah ends up marrying Richard and having a son, Jason, the next year. Sarah becomes ill with multiple sclerosis and as her health declines, spends as much time as possible with Jason at the lake house. Luke and Sarah reunite as best they can, a time during which deep family secrets are revealed that cause them both profound joy and pain.
- | Author: Stephen Payne
- | Publisher: Cedar Ledge Publishing
- | Publication Date: Aug 25, 2022
- | Number of Pages: 414 pages
- | Language: English
- | Binding: Paperback
- | ISBN-10: 1732259941
- | ISBN-13: 9781732259942
- Author:
- Stephen Payne
- Publisher:
- Cedar Ledge Publishing
- Publication Date:
- Aug 25, 2022
- Number of pages:
- 414 pages
- Language:
- English
- Binding:
- Paperback
- ISBN-10:
- 1732259941
- ISBN-13:
- 9781732259942