Smart Bitches Trashy Books | All of the romance, none of the bullshit.

I think it was from the 1980s-- I remember reading it before my daughter was born (in 1992). Possibly not a "traditional" romance novel, and I remember the author as being male and that it was a pretty thick paperback.

It was set in Depression-era America. There was a well-off girl, who lived in a large, expensive home; her parents were cold and unloving towards her. She was falling in love with a boy from the "wrong side of the tracks"-- his family was quite poor, and her family was scandalized that she would even consider being friendly with him. I believe the girl had to sneak away to visit the boy's house-- and she enjoyed going there because despite their poverty, his parents were kind & loving and she had never felt loved before.

I think her visits were discovered, there was a terrible scene, and she may have been locked in her room when her parents found out. The girl runs away just as the boy's family is leaving town, heading out west to look for better prospects.

They are on the road, living in either a tent or a car, in the dust-bowl states; I think by this time the girl & boy had married and were expecting a baby.

I think eventually they headed for California; the boy dreamed of becoming an aviator, and it was either hinted in the last chapters or in a synopsis of the next book that he would become a pilot (in San Diego?) just in time for WWII; I do remember that the story clearly did not end with this book but was to be continued in a sequel.

I was reading the book (and had skimmed the end, bad me) when I set it down on a bench and someone walked away with it; I thought I'd be able to find another copy & finish it, but I never did and then I couldn't remember the author, title, or character names.

The one other thing I remember quite clearly was a scene toward the beginning where the girl is visiting the boy at his house before they leave town; the mother invites her to stay for dinner, and afterward the girl wants to help clean up because she's afraid they will think she's stuck-up if she doesn't offer, but she doesn't know how to wash dishes without a sink and hot running water and a box of soap flakes. She feels too stupid to offer and then ask to be shown how to do dishes in what's essentially a shack. And she feels that she's making a terrible impression on the boy's mother, who she likes & wants to be liked back.

I know this isn't much to go on, and if anyone recognizes it I will be so grateful! I'd like to find this "one that got away". Thank you!