Lela and Joe
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
Synopsis of
LELA AND JOE a Trilogy
I. LELA AND JOE: In the library of his brother, an evangelist, Joe Callaway learns, at age four, to read. He continues to research religious and historic literature the rest of his life, but remains agnostic. He drops out of the college which his dad had built for him, and he wanders for several years, getting into three life-threatening accidents after which his father gives him his inheritance. Joe quickly squanders it. Lela Bell is a child of Southern planters displaced by the Civil War who migrated to Texas where they were very 'poor, but proud.' Her father tells her that it is better never to marry than to marry the wrong man; so, much to the distress of her mother, Lela, a Suffragette, rejects several suitors. And, to the consternation of her father, she becomes an active Prohibitionist, marching in parades. When Lela, a Christian, and Joe, the agnostic, meet in their mid-twenties, they fall in love immediately, but can't marry until Joe earns some money. The Bells file on government land in New Mexico, Lela and Joe are separated, but a year later (1918) Lela and Joe are married and have a daughter, Sibyl.
II. SIBYL AND TROY: Lela and Joe move back to Texas. They have a son, Troy. They buy a tiny farm, and now Joe can support his family and also have plenty of time to study. But the little country school is inadequate, so they move to Plainview and Joe builds homes. They are ideally happy and prosperous until the Depression hits.
III. DEPRESSION DAYS: Although Joe is fortunate enough to get work as a carpenter, it pays only a dollar per day, but Lela manages to 'keep their heads up.' They have plenty of time to enjoy one other and their friends. In 1936, so that Sibyl can attend University, Joe goes to Albuquerque and starts a building company so she can live at home while attending school. In 1939 Joe dies, and, due to bad management of the new partner Joe has just taken into his company, the family is broke and in despair again, almost, but not quite - Joe has left them several things better than money.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
As the Texas frontier advanced, the Bell and Callaway families moved with it. The Civil War had reduced the Bells to poverty, but they managed to 'hold their heads up.' Encouraged by her genteel father, Lela rebels against Victorian customs and, to the despair of her mother, she becomes a suffragette. Then, to the consternation of her father, Lela becomes a Prohibitionist. She turns up her pretty little nose at her many suitors until she is finally, to the embarrassment of her family, an 'Old Maid!' Joe Callaway, the spoiled, precocious youngest son in a large wealthy family, agnostic from childhood, walks away from the Christian college his newly converted father built for him. After he survives three serious accidents, two of which should have killed him, Doctors tell Joe that he has, at most, only a couple of years to live. His father gives him his inheritance. Joe quickly squanders it. Looking for employment, Joe meets Lela one afternoon, takes her to a concert that evening, and afterward, asks her to marry him. However, financial circumstances do not permit their marriage for a year in which they are parted by many miles, each writing a letter every day. Champion parents, they and their two children have a marvelous time during the roaring twenties - Joe builds homes, Lela decorates them, they live in a house until the next one is finished; then they sell for a neat profit and move into the new house! The '29 Crash hits Plainview early and hard, and the Depression is a time of bare existence for Lela and Joe and their children. For a time they are homeless. But, 'keeping their heads up,' they manage to survive, barely. Then, by Joe's ingenuity, they move to Albuquerque and are among the first to come out of that horrible time. Lela remains a staunch Christian, Joe a studious agnostic. What will the children choose?
About the Author
Sibyl Carroll, author of 'Lela and Joe,' is their daughter.
The retired operator of Sunshine Montessori Preschool in Yuma, Arizona, Mrs. Carroll has published 'Montessori for Moms,' a teacher's manual.
Other works include:
- 'From the Mouth of Babes,' a collection of incidents that occurred in her preschool, giving insights into the feelings and attitudes of young children.
- 'Wonder Women,' a collection of biographies of every-day but extra-ordinary women.
- Poems, including, 'Doll's Head'
- Numerous Newspaper Social Commentaries
- Works-In-Progress:
'Creative Art For Everyone'
'Soul and Spirit' - a religious commentary