Clair de Lune, by Jetta Carleton

Jetta Carleton was a one-book wonder prior to the recent release of this posthumously published novel. The moonflower vine, published in 1962, was a New York Times bestseller and has maintained an affectionate place in the hearts of many readers, particularly from Missouri, where the novel is set. Evidently, she worked and re-worked Clair de Lune, also set in the Missouri Ozarks, for many years and left it somewhat incomplete at her death. The result of this long gestation has resulted in a book that seems set both in 1941 and in more recent times, particularly in her choice of language. World War II slang bumps up somewhat uncomfortably with the occasional f-bomb, which seems unlikely for the time. But it is charming in its own way. A young, inexperienced woman, (Barbara) Allan Liles, has taken her first teaching job at a new community college. There she becomes a favorite of many students, particularly two young men in a seminar she has developed and teaches. The uncertainty in the lives of these young people, as America teeters on entering the war breaks down some of the social restraints between the teacher and the student, with predictable results. 276 pp.