New Jersey, 1928.
All her life, Etta Wozniak has toiled on her family’s small farm. Life has fallen into a rut of drudgery and predictability. That is, until the day she discovers something in an unlikely place; an old car.
Art Adams, a recent college man, is to marry a woman he has never met before. Though reluctant to confront the matter, if he decides to do nothing, he will lose who and what he has come to love.
Jalopy is a 1920’s historical fiction set in a rural town and follows one female and one male protagonist in alternating point-of-view chapters. Both leads have separate, but intertwining sub-plots. I would describe their relationship as slow burn with a hate-to-love progression – the “hate” element being brief. Without going into spoilers, I’ll say that things become physical, but more sweet and not so much “steamy.” Bantering dialogue is first. Sensuality is second. The real love story is between the heroine and an old car – the titular jalopy. Besides the main romance, much of the text follows the female character’s efforts to leave her small town and the sometimes rocky relationship with her best friend. The male character deals with an arranged marriage and learning to be his own man. All throughout, I strive to keep things light – even when the subject matter may become dark. Overall, the tone is positive, and the theme is to make do with what you have, but not to settle.
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