"But We love Each Other" Part. 1 of 11

“Dreams of Freedom in a Small Southern Town of Washington Arkansas.”

But We Love Each Other Part 1
Shaylean obeys the rhythms of a tiny Arkansas town: chores, church, and the twice-weekly walk to the post office and neighboring convenience store — little escapes she treasures. On her route she endures the leers of Mr. Peterson and the moral policing of neighbors, while privately burning for two very different men: Doodle, the steady local beau, and Bobby, a soldier in Vietnam whose single telephone call and folded love letters promise romance and escape.
At home, her mother Mrs. Marsh rules with a fierce, often humiliating discipline, and her older sister and brother play familiar roles in the household drama. When Mrs. Marsh discovers a shoebox of Bobby’s letters hidden beneath Shaylean’s bed, family tension erupts and Shaylean’s secret longing is suddenly public.
Against the backdrop of 1973 — the Vietnam War, the economic realities of small-town life, and women dreaming of security — Shaylean must reckon with what love, safety, and sacrifice really mean.