If I knew you were going to be this beautiful, I never would have let you go

A novel in stories about a young woman's coming of age during the summer of 1972 in a gritty, working-class community on the brink of gentrification traces her hedonist associations with friends and her struggles to understand her Vietnam-haunted crush. The summer of 1972. Katie and her town, Elephant Beach, are both on the verge: Katie of adulthood, and Elephant Beach of gentrification. But not yet: Elephant Beach is still gritty, working-class, close-knit. And Katie spends her time smoking and drinking with her friends, dreaming about a boy just back from Vietnam who's still fighting a battle Katie can't understand. No matter how beautiful some dreams are, there comes a time when we must let them go.