In Those First Bright Days of Elvis

One trivial decision can change a whole life. On an October night in 1955, fifteen-year-old Julie Morgan decides to attend a free talent show and concert at the football stadium of her Arkansas hometown. At the concert, Julie encounters three strangers: a lookalike, who could pass for her twin; a college boy, who will be the love of her life; and Elvis Presley, who befriends her and whose casual comment about a light bulb becomes a driving force in her pursuit of love and self-worth. But in that pursuit, Julie goes down the wrong path, seeking popularity and an older boy’s affection as substitutes for her missing father’s guidance and support, unaware that her longing to feel loved and valued stems from her need to have her father in her life. Growing up is never easy. The birth of rock ‘n’ roll, a growing standard of living, and the culture of automobiles brought a feeling of freedom and ease. But the phrase -Duck and Cover!- meant the possibility of nuclear war, and death was now a fact of everyday life. Josephine Rascoe Keenan masterfully weaves a story of human anguish and betrayal, love and loss, recrimination and regret, and shows how choices, once made, can change one’s life forever. She meticulously recreates the -golden days- of drive-in movies, screen wire petticoats, and flashy American cars, when the world seemed brighter and more innocent than today. But was it?