Calgary Public Library

The girl in the polka dot dress, Beryl Bainbridge

eng

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The girl in the polka dot dress

electronic resource.

Beryl Bainbridge

In the tumultuous spring of 1968 a young English woman, Rose, travels from London to the United States to meet a man she knows as Washington Harold. In her suitcase are a polka dot dress and a one-way ticket. In an America recently convulsed by the April assassination of Martin Luther King and subsequent urban riots, they begin a search for the charismatic and elusive Dr. Wheeler—sage, prophet, and possibly, redeemer—who rescued Rose from a dreadful childhood and against whom Harold holds a seething grudge. As they follow their quarry cross-country in a camper they encounter the odd remnants of Wheeler acolytes who harbor festering cultural and political grievances. Along the way, a famous artist is shot in New York, mutilated soldiers are evacuated from Vietnam, race hatred explodes in ghettos and suburbs, and casual madness blossoms at revival meetings. Many believe America's only hope is presidential candidate Robert Kennedy, whose campaign trail echoes Rose and..