For a Dream Cometh

"For a Dream Cometh" is a moving, bittersweet look back at a lost time, when college students were concerned with nothing more than next weekend's social calendar, when the real world still remained out of the ivory tower. Those were the college days before the era of student unrest, activism, and turmoil recreated again in "For a Dream Cometh." Through the eager eyes of Deborah Dorcas Ames, a young music student, the reader becomes part of what college used to be like. Deborah is the shy, quiet daughter of a fundamentalist minister and his prim, cold wife. She dreams of college as the one place to find the glory, the love and the friends she has so far lacked all her life. A country girl, she has broken away from tradition by going to college. She wants desperately to break away even more by becoming a concert pianist, despite the objections of her father who wishes her to be a church organist. Deborah plunges eagerly into classes and music lessons and at first only looks on hungrily at the busy social life around her. She despairs at her lack of friends, especially a boyfriend, as her freshman year is handicapped by her father's warnings against dancing, card playing, or drinking. She suffers over a few crushes, then slowly discovers boys are as easy to talk to as to girls. Once she overcomes the teachings drilled into her by her stern father, she even learns to dance. She joins a sorority, and her social life improves. Soon Deborah is spending fewer Friday and Saturday nights dateless and anguished. After dating a number of boys, she meets Roger who makes her feel beautiful and loved. They enjoy the whirl of college social activities and especially treasure their moments alone together, for their future after Deborah's graduation looks uncertain. "For a Dream Cometh" is a book for all generations--for all who remember a world such as Deborah lived in, and for those who today are still struggling to assert themselves in an often harsh world.