The discovery of a forbidden box of letters sends author Selby McPhee on a fascinating and painful journey through her family’s history in the first half of the American twentieth century. On the box’s lid is a provocative warning: “Personal letters of Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Fleming, Jr - to be destroyed unopened.” Born late in the family story, the author opened the box, and now sets the letters in the context of contemporary cultural history of their era, exploring with readers her own questions about Jack and Peggy's struggle to succeed in the context of economic hardship and an intense, often troubled marriage. What tripped them up in their pursuit of the promise America offered in the early 20th century? And what was all the intensity about? Was it love? Were they crazy? Or is that what love is?
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Love Crazy is a delightful and moving romp of a memoir about an ardent and reckless young couple struggling to achieve the American dream during the Great Depression. Through a unique and artful mix of letters and narration, we follow Jack and Peggy, who elope too young and set out across America to find work, money, status, and love, in the pursuit of a happiness that seems always to slip away. Enjoy here two charming people who get knocked down and pick themselves up over and over again, in the best of American determination. This is the story of all of us, beautifully and intoxicatingly told.
Sara Mansfield Taber, author, Born Under an Assumed Name: The Memoir of a Cold War Spy’s Daughter
McPhee has given us the gift of a truly unique style that she uses to create a pitch-perfect story of a dysfunctional, yet disturbingly familiar, family history. This story will ring true to anyone who remembers the dynamics at work in their mother-daughter relationship.
Kathleen Papajohn, author, Maligned
