Joseph Somerset

The Lives and Loves of a One-legged Dancing Man Joseph Somerset

At the end of his long and dangerous journey, Edward Lincoln encounters a lovely young blonde woman when coming ashore in Maine at the turn of the twentieth century. He falls in love with her, and with America, despite having a wife and son in Odessa, and a wife and daughter in Alsace. He has much to do here. He is a blacksmith who can make art works out of nothing. Edward likes to be with women; he likes the way they talk, the way they listen, the way they speak about what they feel. Men do not really talk to other men. They banter, tease, brag, and cover their feelings. Edward is happier being with women, and women respond to him. He loves the happy girls and the sad girls; he loves the girls who laugh with him, and he weeps with the girls who tell him their vast sorrows. Edward dances and laughs through life andthrough America, making his own rules. When he cannot cope with some of life's traumas, including his son's mental illness, the dancing and laughter serve him well, bringing him back to his greatest love.