Joy Street: A Wartime Romance in Letters, 1940-1942

After his mother's death, Wise, a teacher of Latin and Greek in New York State, discovered a collection of letters exchanged by his English mother and a lieutenant in the Welsh Guards, whom she had planned to marry. Their correspondence took place from 1940 to 1941 and evokes a bygone era, when lovers like Mirren and Jock felt compelled by the standards of the time to wait until marriage to act on their erotic desires. Consequently, they expressed their frustrations in romantic writings. Mirren and Jock were able to meet for brief periods, a time they refer to as ``Joy Street,'' and their poignant letters describe their longing for each other, as well as their soul searching about the meaning of WWII and their purpose in life. Jock, a devoted officer who became one of the founders of Britain's Special Air Service, was killed in action in North Africa in December 1941. (Aug.)