Fireworks Over Toccoa

by Jeffrey Stepakoff

Book Overview

An unexpected discovery takes 84-year-old Lily Davis Woodward back to 1945, and the five days that forever changed her life, in this devastating and poignant debut novel.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312581580
• ISBN13: 9780312581589
• Release Date: March 2010
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
• Length: 263 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.5" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

A great love story

This is a sweet love story set in the 1940's. I liked how it made me think about how different life was then. Marriage and commitment were much stronger. I felt that the characters were true to life, real people with real feelings and emotions. I also liked that the love between Jake and Lily was an all-consuming love from the moment that they met. Their lives were changed forever. I also enjoyed the plot twists in the book and I didn't expect them. While I wish the ending could have been different, it felt more like real life, that things like this do happen.

A compelling love story

Can you fall in love with somebody who you have only known for a day? That is the question author Jeffrey Stepakoff asks in his debut novel Fireworks over Toccoa. The story takes place during WWII, where Lily Davis Woodward, a young bride, awaits the return of her husband Paul. Married too young, the couple only had two weeks together before Paul was shipped off to Europe. Now, after living alone during Paul's absence, Lily realizes she has changed and matured. Has Paul changed too? Will they be able to pick up where they left off? Lily, her family, friends, and the whole town of Toccoa, Georgia, prepare to welcome home their GIs, including Paul. To celebrate the return of the town's soldiers, a fireworks expert, Jake Russo, a handsome, dark-haired Italian, is hired to put together a fireworks show. Driving home one day, Lily overhears a loud explosion coming from Jake's practice fireworks. She stops the car, and without realizing that she's walking right into the area where the sparks from the fireworks will land, she strolls out to watch. When Jake sees an attractive woman walk into the area, he dashes away from his post and pulls Lily to the ground to protect her from the falling embers. After Lily gets over her initial shock, she strikes up a conversation with the young man. At first they make small talk about the fireworks, but soon the pair is talking about the beauty of Toccoa, followed by more personal topics. It isn't long before both realize they are falling in love. The body of Fireworks over Toccoa takes place within a few days time. Lily is torn between her duty to Paul and her love of Jake. Is Jake her soul mate? Should Lily run away to Brazil with Jake or wait dutifully for her husband's return? While the book got off to a slow and somewhat confusing start - it begins in 2007 with two boys discovering something (the reader isn't told what) buried in the mud. Next we meet Colleen, a young woman preparing to marry, and finally the reader is introduced to Colleen's grandmother, Lily. When Lily takes Colleen to the local military museum to reclaim the object the boys found, she begins to tell the tale of her youth. Once Lily's narration began, the pace picks up and everything falls into place. Fireworks over Toccoa drew me in as soon as Lily began to tell her story. The writing brought the town of Toccoa, the people, and the dry, hot, southern summer to life. The relationship between Lily and Jake is developed in record speed, but their conversations were believable and I never doubted that their love was real. As they shared their deepest secrets, their attraction, and passion grew. How could Lily fall in love with Jake when her husband was, at that very moment, on his way home? Lily's dilemma, and what she will do, will keep pages turning until the very end. Quill says: A compelling love story that pits sense of duty against true love.

Great romance

Jeffrey Stepakoff's debut novel- Fireworks over Toccoa was entertaining and romantic. The story centers mainly around Lily, and her memories as a young married woman from Georgia. Her husband was deployed days after they married and was overseas serving during WWII. Lily tells her granddaughter of her life and struggles as a young, southern woman who doesnt want to conform to southern society's expectations, her longing for something else, and her regrets. A piece of paper from her past gives her a chance to teach her granddaughter that things arent always what they seem. This book really reminded me of a cross between The Notebook and Bridges of Madison County. Great read!

Duty...there is no ordinary love

`Fireworks over Toccoa' is beautiful story from the start of the author's notes about the Zambellis to Ken Burn's quote," there are no ordinary lives". Jeffery Stepakoff has done research into both the subject of fireworks, their beauty and construction and the era of the end of WWII. There are interesting asides about Coca Cola manufacturing in the war both for the invading American forces and the captured European territories and the `Coke Colonels'. The tale is a love story, some of it familiar - the well to do southern daughter engaged to the well to do southern fiancée who picks out their house and their future life. Lily marries Paul who is a Coke Colonel; but then as Paul is returning home she meets the fireworks man, Jake and the love story takes a turn. Lily is left with the decision that when life is planned for you... what is your duty? - duty or your heart. The characters could have had more depth as well as the surrounding countryside, town and life descriptions. They are described, but I just felt that it would have been much enhanced with more depth.. There could have been more of the smells of the south and the deep pure feelings of the war won by 1945. Lilly learns some hard truths about love. The love story turns out as real life does....a love and duty story. It might seem more duty, but it is love and really worth the time to read, discover what happens; and fall in to the spell of 'Fireworks over Toccoa'.

Recipe for a Perfect Book:

In large pot add one part "The Bridges of Madison County", two parts "The Notebook", cover with Coca Cola and sprinkle with one heaping teaspoon pyrotechnics. Consume in front of a crackling fire with a bottle of your favorite wine, keeping tissues handy in case of overflow. Author Stepakoff has crafted the perfect book. I was so riveted by FIREWORKS OVER TOCCOA that I stayed up half the night reading. I won't describe the plot because the product description has already done that. What I will do is rave about how engrossing the characters were, and how gripping the plot, and how deep the heartache is in this fine little book which is destined to be a national bestseller. It has all the ingredients of a hit movie, as well. The only drawback that I could find was one lengthy and overly graphic love scene, which may somewhat limit the scope of the reading audience. I know I would think twice before passing it on to, say, one of my mother's friends. And I most definitely would not want to be the high school teacher suggesting that his students read it, although I know they would LOVE it. That said, the rest of the book is flawless. One will laugh, cry, think, and ponder their life's choices while reading FIREWORKS OVER TOCCOA. Read this book as soon as you can get your hands on a copy. It's that good.