FOUR-LEAF CLOVER - MCINTYRE. JERILYN

The American Midwest, 1944-1965. A story of ordinary people in extraordinary times. For seven-year-old Josie Henderson and her best friend Eddie, the end of World War II in their small Nebraska town is a time of parades and celebrations. For other members of their families, and for their friends and neighbors, it is more complicated and more difficult. That continues for all of them through the postwar era, the Korean War, the Cold War and finally in the turbulent period of the Vietnam War. There are moments of exuberant victory as well as crushing personal loss and trauma. Despite the looming presence of over two decades of war in their lives, ultimately love prevails. But can it last?

The novel weaves together themes of perseverance and hope, friendship and romance, dissent and reconciliation. The author is an historian and a university president emerita.