Shreveport and Lee’s Point, Louisiana – 1935

After her father’s funeral, Adrianna Moore finds herself alone with Richard Pope, the lawyer to whom her father entrusted her future and his business, Moore Bank and Trust. Her father always made sure that Adrianna had the best of everything with no worries or concerns, but now she is shocked to be told that Richard is the executor of the huge estate and has control over everything. She must marry the odious Richard a week from Sunday to have access to the money and her home. Adrianna flees from Shreveport determined to never marry Richard and to live her own life.

A week later, Adrianna is on the road in the pouring rain hoping to get as far away from Richard as she can. When her car slides into an oncoming truck, she is hospitalized and finds herself in the small town of Lee’s Point. She pays her debts by playing the piano in the local tavern, owned by Quinn Baxter, and helping care for his brother, Jessie, who in a wheel chair. Quinn’s housekeeper, Lola, is determined to be rid of the beautiful woman who is a threat to her bid for Quinn’s affections. Quinn is a logger, a boisterous, gruff man, but kind of heart. A slovenly housekeeper, Lola does not give Jessie the help he needs. Jessie is a sullen and angry teenager. Will Adrianna make a difference in this unhappy household? Will she be able to hide from Richard? And then there is Dewey Fuller, Quinn’s archenemy -- what problems will he cause?

Set in the 1930s, women had less power over their lives than they do today. Adrianna is a good woman who knows little about the seamier side of life because her father always protected and took care of her. Now, she must learn to toughen up and make decisions for the first time in her life. Quinn is the hero, strong, dependable, and willing to help. Richard, the typical villain of the piece, is determined to have his way with Adrianna, and Lola is more dangerous than anyone realizes.

A WEEK FROM SUNDAY is an eminently readable romantic tale, with a jealous viper in the household, a seriously injured young boy whom Adrianna tries to befriend, an evil man willing to do anything to attain what he desires, and an old codger to give a bit of comic relief. It all makes an exciting story as two people meet and fall in love in the pandemonium. Dorothy Garlock has her own special way with a story and makes the 1930s come to life with her use of the idioms and the less sophisticated people of that time period. Her good people are very good, her bad people are horrid, and she manages to make it all come together for an entertaining tale.

Marilyn Heyman