More Than Memory [Mass Market Paperback]

When she needs a break, she returns to Clear Lake, Iowa, to the farm her grandfather left her in his will. Both grandparents are gone now but Nelda feels a sense of security in the place where she'd known such happiness all those years ago. She hopes for a bit of R&R and to re-evaluate her life.

What she doesn't figure on is running into Lute. Unbeknownst to Nelda, Lute has been renting the land which is now hers (an attorney has managed her affairs in Iowa while she was in Chicago). Lute keeps finding excuses to help her out and eventually Nelda discovers that the ring he wears on the third finger of his left hand is not because he's married -- it's the one he had bought when they were married. When a night of passion leads to complications neither one of them expected, Nelda is determined to withdraw from Lute and plans to move from Clear Lake as soon as possible.

MORE THAN MEMORY is a real page-turner, full of the grit and reality which readers have come to expect of a Dorothy Garlock novel. Since she is writing about the town she has lived in since the 1950s, the descriptions of the town and the surrounding area are richly detailed. She includes some of the most tragic events of the 1950s in her story including the death of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper who were killed in a plane crash outside of Clear Lake after a 1959 concert and even sets a scene at that last concert.

Lute, whose dedication and caring for Nelda have lasted more than a decade, makes a wonderful hero. A particularly poignant scene has them meeting for the first time in over eight years at their daughter's gravesite. Nelda is sometimes too stubborn for her own good, but given her circumstances, her actions are understandable. What seems to be stubbornness is more of a defense mechanism because she doesn't want to get hurt again.

I enjoyed reading a book set in 1958-59 - years of my childhood and can remember time spent at my grandparents' farm during that same time which really helped this story come alive. I hope more authors will take the chance of writing less than traditional time-periods for their books as Garlock has. It was, for this reviewer, like a trip down memory lane.

According to the notes on the copyright page, MORE THAN MEMORY is evidently a rewrite of one of Dorothy Garlock's early books written as Johanna Phillips in 1982 for the Second Chance at Love line, PASSION'S SONG. At over 380 pages, it's more than just a simple rewrite, it's a complete re-working of the shorter novel.

Eight more years pass before Nelda returns home to the family farm. She still loves Lute as she immediately realizes when she sees him for the first time since her father took charge of their marriage and divorce. To his chagrin, Lute never forgot Nelda. However, both share misconceptions about the other from the incident that destroyed their future together.

MORE THAN A MEMORY is an enjoyable historical relationship drama that makes the lifestyle of the 1950's heartland seem very much alive. Younger readers will be shocked by the marine's actions, but single and pregnant was a fate worse than death back then. The lead couple is a warm pair who deserves a second chance. However, the meat of Dorothy Garlock's tale is the era as she portrays a radically different set of values (than today) wrapped inside a wonderful romance.

Harriet Klausner

Lute and Nelda's story has been described well by other writers. They loved lost, settled their problems and loved again. Lute and Nelda were forced by her militant father to wed then immediately after the wedding, Nelda's father told Lute he was filing for a divorce between them. They leave for Des Moines. The pregnant Nelda has her baby and the baby dies six months later.

Eight years later, Nelda and Lute meet at the baby's gravesite and each has misconceptions about the other.

This story is about lost love, misconceptions, misunderstandings and a resolution of those problems. A realistic story set in the 1950s, that era being very close to my heart. Read this wonderful story and suffer, then rejoice with Lute and Nelda.