Dreams in the Distance

Dreams in the Distance, Book I of THE CHOICE series: What voices influence your choices?

Make your choice, adventurous Stranger,

Strike the bell and bide the danger,

Or wonder, till it drives you mad,

What would have followed if you had? 

The Magician’s Nephew, C. S. Lewis

In 1952 London and C. S. Lewis’s & J. R. R. Tolkien’s Oxford, five young people pursue their Dreams in the Distance as they choose their life paths influenced by either holy voices of inspiration or insidious voices of seduction.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both . . .

The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost

Two English ingénues, with little girl memories of WWII, chase their dreams.

Until she’s faced with tragedy, Lily Whitely, a devastating beauty, demonstrates the potential to charm the fashion world with her designs. Hope is sewn into a gown, her entry in a contest for the best creation for Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation. Lily plans to reveal her stunning dress at her best friend’s (Philomena Claiborne’s) birthday ball where Cinderella theatrics from the Wicked Stepsister’s jealousy to Prince Charming’s interest liven up the festivities.

Phila, a brain with a photographic memory, excels at Oxford University. However, the petite redhead morns the fact her handsome brother got all the good looks. She is determined to find her own prince, but could he look past her unattractiveness?

At the same time, World War II, has displaced the dreams of three young veterans and now they have choices to make. Phila’s brother Hugh, a brilliant Royal Navy intelligence officer assigned to headquarters, feels cheated out of the war’s accolades. He yearns to make his mark as a Cold War operative. That lifestyle, however, is not conducive to domestic life. A decision looms as his fraternal affection for Lily appears to be morphing into something less brotherly. Apparent secrets evoke curiosity about the suspense surrounding rumors of English traitors defecting to Russia.

Traumatized and plagued by the war’s demons, O. C. Ogilvie, a decorated Scottish soldier, searches for God’s purpose and promise while studying under C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien at Oxford. It’s there where the 6’6” redhead beholds a wee carrot-topped lass and his deadened heart revives.

Dan McCauley, a beguiling American fighter ace whose wounds robbed him of the ability to fly jets in the USAF, finds some consolation in becoming a philosophy professor and humanism lecturer with a desire to speak at Oxford.

Faced with momentous life choices...