Candle of Dreams

Like moths to a flame, three people are drawn inexorably into a web of dreams that beckons and lures them onward even as it threatens to consume them all. Set against the backdrop of the last year of the Dust Bowl, Candle of Dreams is a story that deals with human nature and enduring love.

Part of a displaced family seeking survival during the "Dirty Thirties," Matt is a dreamer who dares to dream far beyond the circumstances of the itinerant life his impoverished family has been forced to lead. Their search leads them down Route 66 from Missouri to the farm of Daniel Gillespie, who has managed to hang on to his land by sheer determination and hard work, and a stash of gold coins that his father hoarded away.

Gillespie hires Matt's father. It is while they are talking that Gillespie's daughters, Coral Lee and Micah, appear on the scene and the seeds of a forbidden love are planted and flourish in secret. Frustrated by her inability to win Matt for herself and fueled by her feelings, Micah sets events in motion that will haunt them for the rest of their lives.