An Ocean Between Us

This is a tale of the power of music, humor and love. Gwyn Ellen Morris, musical prodigy of a quirky extended family, comes of age during the Great Depression in the wilds of Southwest Louisiana. A training camp, Camp Polk, is built near by to prepare men for the coming war. Suddenly, soldiers arrive in her rural town and upend her world. While entertaining soldiers with her piano playing, she meets Lt. Jack Forest. Two weeks later, they marry and she leads the life of a war bride. They spend eight months together until he ships out. She travels to a small town in Maine to stay with his family. She must adjust to a new culture; he must adjust to leading his men through North Africa, Sicily, England, Normandy, Belgium and on to Berlin. Communication is limited and often the only news Gwyn hears is on the radio. As the years pass, they both wonder if they will be able to overcome and accept the changes in each other. Though this is a work of fiction, the author has incorporated her father's war notes and diaries to trace Lt. Forest's journey from the time he meets Gwyn in 1941 until the war ends in 1945.