SWEET DREAMS by Carla Stewart
(Book bio)
It's 1962, and Dusty
Fairchild, daughter of a self-made millionaire and oilman, wants to go to
college. Instead she is sent to a private finishing school in East Texas.
Although she's never wanted for material possessions, Dusty longs for
independence and adventure. The only upside to attending Miss Fontaine's is
having her cousin and best childhood friend, Paisley, join her. Paisley has
traveled the country with her bohemian mother, but she dreams of putting down
roots and living a settled life. At Miss Fontaine's, their loyalty to each
other binds them, but when they fall in love with the same handsome young man,
their relationship teeters on shaky ground. Only after a tragic accident do
they learn where their true hearts-and dreams-lie.
Sweet Dreams is another fine masterpiece told in Carla
Stewart’s smooth, gentle drawl, as inviting as a gracious southern
belle’s offer of an ice-cold lemonade on a dry Texas day.
It’s an engaging story of two young women entering into adulthood
amid uncertainties about themselves and their dreams, steered by others in a time
and culture when young women weren’t sure they had a say in who they were or
who they could be woven through a colorful backdrop of the sixties and sprinkled
with glimmers of the sixties’ music culture.
Dusty Fairchild and Paisley Finch are each strong yet
vulnerable in her own way. The heart-tugging conflict between two young women
who should be able to count on each other made me ask myself what I would have
done in their situation. Would I choose the way of grace? Would I pursue
fulfillment of my dreams regardless the cost?
Sweet Dreams is a story about love, loyalty, secrets, and forgiveness.
It’s about having the courage to voice your dreams and then believing you can
make them come true. It’s an inspiring reminder to be yourself whether you fit
in or not. It reminds us to not be so hasty to judge on appearances. And it reminds
us how pride can rob us of time that could be spent with those we hold dearest,
that we have a choice to love the family we have, regardless their shortcomings
and mistakes.
What I loved: Dusty’s wise grace toward others in spite of the
way they treated her. I admired her courage to speak up when the need outweighed
the consequences, and to be a person in her own right in a time when a woman
didn’t have much of a voice. I admired the way Dusty took her circumstances and
made the best of it.
I also loved Paisley’s inner strength, her ability to
recognize the value of certain people in her life in spite of their
disappointing flaws. She also took her circumstances and made the best of it, an
admirable strength both young women possessed and, I think, inspired in each
other.
I applaud Dusty and Paisley for prodding each other to
refresh their wish list often, and for keeping sight of their dream, and for trying
their best to put family first even if family didn’t always put them first. Most
of all, I appreciate the beauty of sacrificial love displayed by several
characters, making it one of the most touching, unforgettable stories I’ve read
in a long time. -Camille Eide
Carla’s books can be found at her website: http://www.carlastewart.com/books/
