Publisher's Synopsis
In this family saga spanning four generations, a Southern woman tells a family story that is in many ways America's story from the 1940s to the present. Served up in bits and pieces, the puzzle parts gradually come together to form a convincing picture of who we are and how we got here. The picture which emerges is of a colorful cast of characters, heroic at times, not so admirable at others, but always lovable. Sometimes eras and generations fit nicely into decades, and for what is often called the postwar "babyboom" era those decades are the 1950s and 60s. Those two decades, during which most babyboomers grew up and approached adulthood, are often described as polar opposites, but in fact they had much in common. Both grew out of the optimism which followed World War II. Of course new technologies like television had profound effects on the culture, but more than anything America was awash in confidence. The expansion of industry necessary to fight the Great War had left America with huge muscles and feeling it had hung the moon. Victories over enemies around the globe had the country-and especially the men returning from the war-expecting something in return. They believed America could provide a more comfortable lifestyle and a wider distribution of wealth and opportunity. And it did. This simple belief in the goodness of America which permeated the 1950s carried over into the early 60s. Even the late 60s, marked as they were by the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement, expressed optimism that ordinary people standing up for the truth could profoundly change political order. The Blake family in Stephanie DeBry's memoir The Shoebox is both a Southern family and a babyboom family fighting to claim their space on the expanding American landscape. Morgan Blake returns from service in the South Pacific to find a land filled with a new buzz, but still laboring with many of the old moralities his preacher father had drilled into his reluctant skull. For Morgan and his wife Elizabeth it is an exciting and frightening time. Day by day they dance to life's rhythms, moving to music seemingly played by ear. But despite all the uncertainty, they do what every other postwar couple is doing: they have babies. Four girls and a boy. A lot of mouths to feed. And a lot of adventures along the way. Shoebox is a story of a family growing up, and of America growing up. If you or your parents were part of this exciting time, or if you are just curious about what it was really like those days, time spent with the Shoebox will be time well spent.