The setting is picturesque Lexington. A small, quiet, rural community in the upper Midwest, surrounded by a lake, a quaint church, two old lakeside bars and an old lively dance hall. It is the home of Betty, Edward, their families and friends. Where everyone is trying to make things better for each other and a life for themselves. Based on true story. Follow their lives in the simpler times of the 1940's and throughout the coming of age 1960's, and spend time with them at the old dance hall going to dances with Lily, a promiscuous neighbor, and Jigger, a family friend who lives in a camper alongside the dance hall. Meet Edward and Betty's parents, who are completely different from one another, their many brothers and sister's, their eccentric neighbors Roman and Edna, plus many more entertaining people and characters. Share their lives when Edward receives his draft notice for World War II, a mysterious drowning occurs, and see what happens when a group of wild gypsies ride through their small community. With their ever growing family, Edward and Betty, who's pregnant again, and with no where else to go after a house fire, move in with Edward's parents. After spending a terribly long winter with them, Edward and Betty buy an eighty-acre farm through the GI Bill, with an old two-story farm house with no running water and a barn. With both fortune and misfortune on their side, the locals tackle life's problems as they most always come along. Relying on help from their family, their neighbors, fellow church members and, of course, their friends at the pavilion bar and dance hall. Come and visit Lexington, you'll like it here. The people are fun, kind, quirky, loving, and honest.
About the Author: I have enjoyed reading since I learned how to read when I was about 4 years old, thanks to those old Mother Goose nursery rhymes. The Old Lady in the Shoe, The Big Bad Wolf, The Three Little Pigs, and all the wonderful rest of them. It provided me endless entertainment figuring out the words that went along with all those crazy, colorful and artful pictures. As I grew up, I turned to Stephen King and The Shining and The Stand. And Jaws. Then came John Updike with his Rabbitt books. I went to college and found the Medusa and other Mythological creatures that fascinated me with their God like presence and human attributes. What a bizarre world they lived in, I thought. I've read some of the classics, with 'The Grapes of Wrath' high on the list, and others by John Steinbeck like Cannery Row, and Tortilla Flats. The Catcher in the Rye, by JD Salinger. And that most bizarre of all writers Jack Kerouac. Talk about living in a crazy world! When you read my novels, you may feel a little presence of all these writers, (of whom I do not compare myself with, by the way). I try hard to induce poignant writing styles, and common language about common men and woman, whether they be a sales clerk at Macey's, a greasy mechanic, or the King or Queen of some country. I like finding the human side of everybody, warts and all. I like to toss in a little of the bizarre and unexpected, to keep the reader interested. I hope you enjoy my work, as I try hard to find ways to make a book worthwhile reading. Visit my website, StevenReak.com to read excerpts from 'Lexington Glory Days, ' and two other novels that I am currently working on. Thank you. Steven