Sea Change

Poignant young teen sensitivity surrounds the Saturday summer romance of Kristy Nicholson, shy offshoot of an old North Carolinian family of wealthy aristocrats, to whom only Episcopalians and Presbyterians are among the elect, while Catholics are scorned as Papists. Then lonely, poetic Kristy, at odds with her socially minded cousins, meets bridgeworker Francis O'Hanlon, devout Irish Catholic, a 17-year old, working his way through college. Wild words and wild promises are exchanged; esoteric poetry quoted; and Kristy introduced to the mysteries of Francis' faith. The historical period of the 1890s is vague; the emphasis is on the symbolism of their love, the adolescent intensity, the evaluation of the shallow ethics and goals surrounding Kristy; and the positive values in the Catholic bridge builders although scorned by the locals. Can this romance endure?