Historical Romance
Date Published: October 3, 2017
Publisher: Belle Reve Press
Today, I am happy to bring you an excerpt of Dennis and Greer, a non-fiction love story in letters and journals between 2 college students during the Vietnam era. Buried in a trunk for fifty years, this long-forgotten tale encapsulates the horrors of war and the innocence of young love.
College students, Dennis and Greer, met and felt a spark just before moving to different states. Their witty correspondence through letters conjured a desire to meet again, but Dennis tried to keep his distance; duty is more important than love.
As the two embarked on their journey into adulthood and navigated their relationship against the backdrop of war, they were writing a love story that will span the test of time. Edited by Molly Gould, this nonfiction reads like fiction.
You can read the beautifully-written excerpt below.
Excerpt:
Excerpt 1:
I delight in the prospect of returning to school. I am OBSESSED with the idea of going to Vietnam to fight. What scholasticism! What patriotism! How alluring, friendly, and evil are the girls in this part of the country! I am, in short, a man besieged. Not the least of my assailants is the memory of being in your arms. How I wish I were there now! These are not missionary thoughts, however, and if I could rid myself of them in one fell blow, I would render a hundred such blows without hesitation. You are more faithful than I, pray for me.
Excerpt 2:
Dear Greer (poetic, huh?)
This letter is written upon wrinkled paper, which (as you are an English major), you will realize is symbolic of suffering and hardship. From having gotten to know me you will recall that I am never a whiner so I will let the paper rather than the ink bear what ill tidings are to be borne. You may well ask why I have devoted the introduction of this epistle to such trivia. As in conversation, I find it necessary to fill the air with something while I think of something worthwhile to say. While you write “redundant” over the second “something” in typical gung-ho English major fashion, I will try to find something worthy enough in content and syntax to place before your well-read, though brown, eyes.
Not having succeeded in that undertaking, I will, being forced, continue amid trivialities and redundancies. How are you? I am fine. (The latter is a comment rather than an answer.) My present residence is in Carlin, Nevada (as a glance at the envelope, also wrinkled, will verify—redundancies are tricky) and I receive my mail at P.O. Box 835. May I say that I had a very pointed reason for mentioning the fact?
Out of fear that you will say within someone’s hearing that this letter is much bubble bath, as indeed its first two paragraphs are, I will turn to serious considerations. I long to have the outpourings of your keen mind and kind heart splashed upon my untidy mind (see above) like cool water in the sweating face of a Nevada summer laborer. In other, less revealing words, my first order of business is to insist that you write me a letter. I will even, in consideration of your talent, pay you by the word in typical professional fashion.
I dedicated this summer to ridding myself of fecund thoughts and to the corralling of vagrant impulses, to secluded study and spiritual growth. I’ve had my preliminary interview and I will be leaving on my mission in September. I have departed into the desert to prepare for my calling, to live with the wild beasts and eat locusts and honey. Please realize that your letters will be a tremendous help to me. I think of you often.
Memory, hither come,
And tune your merry notes;
And, while upon the wind
Your music floats,
I’ll pour upon the stream
Where sighing lovers dream,
And fish for fancies as they pass
Within the watery glass.
-William Blake
Sincerely yours,
Dennis
ASU graduate, Molly Gould, lived in the wilderness for 28 days when she was 16 years old (she’s your go-to-girl in the zombie apocalypse). She now confines herself indoors with the AC full-blast in her sunny sate of AZ. Occasionally, she’ll brave the scorching heat with her husband and four children.
When Molly inherited a treasure of vintage journals and letters, she was swept away by the love story contained within those writings. She couldn’t keep Dennis and Greer to herself, so she began transcribing and Dennis and Greer was born.
Contact Information
Website: mollygould.com
Facebook: @gouldmolly
Twitter: @mollymgould
Blog: https://mollygould.com/blog/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/mollygould/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17023721.Molly_Gould?from_search=true
November 11th, 2017 at 12:19 pm
Thank you for posting