by Anne Rivers Siddons

The year was 1966. And for Atlanta, the country, and one woman making her way in a changing world, nothing would ever be the same. Set in the cusp of the country's great social movements, in the year before love turned to anger and peace to militancy, Downtown is a story of Smoky O'Donnell, her career and her heart. When Smoky arrives in Atlanta in 1966, after an airless lifetime back in Savannah, she is at once thrilled and chastened by this dazzling, hectic young city on the move. Her new job as a writer with Atlanta's Downtown magazine introduces her to many unforgettable people, including three young men who will change her life in ways she never thought possible.
Smoky's choices, and her ultimate decisions, create a tender, joyous and powerful story of the end of innocence -- both Smoky's and America's -- at a time when traditional values are in question and the air is laden with possibilities. Full of the masterful characterizations, probing insight and lyrical prose for which Anne Rivers Siddons is justly acclaimed, Downtown is another stunning achievement from an extraordinary writer.