In My Heart

An extremely well-written sweet, simple story set in the 1950s. This is a slow unfurling romance (distinctly different from slow burn) in keeping time period it is set in.

Alice Johnson is leading a fairly unremarkable life in a small town. She is ‘different’ in the sense that she doesn’t want to get married and that in a day and age when women working was not exactly encouraged, she chooses to work. Despite having a clutch of siblings, Alice is closest to her Aunt May who is just about a decade older. Alice and May work in the phone company and have a little Friday evening ritual of special food and music. On one such Friday, Alice is captivated by a voice in a song by a trio of sisters. She goes hunting for the record the next day and is assisted by Bill in the record store. Bill informs her that one of the sisters, Dorothy Long, has struck out on her own and is going to be playing in a honky-tonk not too far away soon. Alice goes for the show and finds the woman as alluring as the voice that had captivated her. She finds herself writing songs for that voice and for Dorothy. The next time she goes for Dorothy’s show, she is invited for an after-party by the guitarist, Dirk. She plays a couple of her songs for Dirk, catches Dorothy’s ear and soon she is a member of the band.

The story is uncomplicated but so excellently written that it keeps you turning the pages without any flagging in attention. Dorothy is a complete charmer. Alice is in the coming-of-age phase with all the accompanying emotional gangliness it involves. There is some conflict in the end with Alice behaving in a childish, unreasonable, petulant manner and the conflict being resolved by Dorothy’s sweetness and steadfastness. It’s worth mentioning that Dorothy’s character here becomes even stronger because just like Alice, the whole situation and relationship is a first for Dorothy too.

This book is definitely recommended.

In My Heart was set in 1958, a time period in which women were basically seen as a wife and mother and working outside the home was frowned upon.
Alice Johnson, 25 and single, worked for the telephone company and wrote songs as a hobby. After listening to a song on the radio, Alice became so enthralled by the singer’s voice that she immediately began writing a song with her in mind. Dorothy Long was a country music singer who travelled with her band and manager husband, Earl.
After attending one of Dorothy’s shows, Alice was invited back to the band‘s hotel room to showcase the songs she wrote. Everyone was impressed with Alice and asked her to become part of their band.
Alice and Dorothy quickly bonded professionally, but their romantic relationship often proved difficult with many emotional meltdowns. Even though Dorothy’s marriage was in name only, they still needed to be discreet for fear of repercussions - personally and professionally.

I enjoyed the realistic nature of this story, especially how marriage was used to hide one’s sexuality. If men or women deviated from the norm, they were classified as weird or perverted. Secrets needed to be preserved and only a few could be trusted such as Bill, Alice’s friend who was also gay. At one point, Dorothy’s husband even put pressure on Dorothy to curtail her relationship with Alice. Fear was the motivating factor behind his decision.

Alice and Dorothy were both strong, intelligent, and courageous women. Alice was even more so since she did not conform to the pressures of society and her family by getting married and having children. When Alice realized she liked women, she was determined not to let heterosexual values dictate her life. It was a bold move some 61 years ago, but Alice repeatedly held strong to her life choices.

This was a well written story. The author wrote captivating dialogue filled with emotional angst and heart wrenching truth regarding the complications of a forbidden love. I also enjoyed the musical aspect of the story, especially Alice and Dorothy’s songs “In My Heart” and “The Two of Us” and how it expressed their love for each other-without being seen as such by their audience. Their love… hidden in plain sight.

Overall, this was a very entertaining read!
Highly recommended.
An ARC was given for an honest review next review.

In My Heart is a fantastic historical novel. The characters and storyline are interesting. The book is well written. I would read more by this author.