Summer of Love

Change, seismic and universal, infused the country. From San Francisco to Washington, every disenfranchised or marginalized group had simultaneously reached the boiling point. The Viet Nam war was escalating at a remarkable pace, and the protests against it were splitting families apart. But the people who’d worked hard to climb up the economic ladder of success weren’t on board to throw everything into the air and see where it landed.

Mary Frances Fitzpatrick was perfectly content to keep things the way they’d always been. She’d grabbed onto the tiniest shred of the American Dream, and wasn’t about to let go. The crumbs the establishment threw her way seemed like they might, one day, be able to sustain her. All she had to do was work twice as hard as a man and keep her opinions to herself.

Courtney Ashcroft on the other hand, came from a long line of socially and economically entitled people, yet she wanted to upset the apple cart in the worst way. No matter the group, if they’d been shut out, Courtney was on their side. Social justice, feminism, and pacifism were her main causes, but she quickly adds gay rights to her list when she and Mary Frances meet.

Despite their political and social views, the women strike up a friendship. Courtney’s sympathetic, encouraging, and genuinely concerned with Mary Frances’s plight. She’s so interested in gay rights, it almost seems personal. But that has to be wishful thinking on Mary Frances’s part. Or does it? 

In Chicago, during that steamy, unpredictable summer of love, improbable dreams can, and do come true.