Feelin' Groovy
Author Alison Lloyd's Scroll through history with heart #45
Get happy in a halter top, let down your hair, and rock your flares — we are going to hang out in the ‘70s stretch of memory lane!
Scroll down for quizzes, songs and seventies style. Plus a book recommendation.
A writer friend of mine, Marline Williams, has just published her first book, a ‘groovy, sweet-yet-swoony’ romance set in 1973. Which gives you and I an excuse to dig some ‘70s cool! This is a digression from earlier centuries, and my earlier emails, shooting forward into our lifetimes. But you may like this book. And if the novel’s not your thing, at least come along for the nostalgia in this newsletter.
I don’t know about you, but I was much too young for romance in the 1970s. At the parties I went to we played pass-the-parcel to a parent’s tape recorder. (Play. Stop. Eject. Turn over. Click, click, clunk; and hope the tape didn’t get twisted.) After school we did the funky gibbon with the Goodies on TV and cheered them as they saved Britain from a plague of Yorkshire puddings.
We had a black and white TV and my Dad’s university department had a computer, but that was as far as access to the digital world went. At home we had to make our own fun. Not with Barbies though! Feminism was in full swing.
My Mum didn’t want her daughters stuck in stereotypes. Instead of Barbies, I looked up to the teenage girls next door, who floated around in peasant skirts and bangles and long, swinging hair.
Maybe it was just my childhood, but I remember the ‘70s as idealistic and colourful. My favourite jeans were purple, and printed with grafitti slogans: ‘The pen is mightier than the sword’; ‘Make love, not war.’ Our school choir sang ‘I’d like to teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony’. I didn’t realise until I wrote this email the song was originally a Coke jingle.
Here in Australia, multiculturalism became official, with our Prime Minister declaring us a multicultural nation in 1975.
Materially, we had less than now, but we expected the world to be good. At least I did. Although I do remember the deep shock of seeing Cambodian child soldiers on the TV news, and realising they were the same age as me.
I was also a bit surprised recently when I Googled the iconic hit ‘Livin in the 70s’ by local band Skyhooks. Turns out that it wasn’t the fun anthem I’d thought but something more unsettling. (Though I do love the glitter and the faux furs.)
I feel a bit crazy
I feel a bit mad…
I feel like a good time, that’s never been had…
I’m livin’ in the seventies…
Skyhooks, ‘Livin’ in the Seventies’
I guess no era is ever about one thing only. History is complex — both dark and delightful.
What are your memories of the 1970s?
If you’d rather read about delightful than dark, Marline Williams might be just the author for you. Marline writes ‘upbeat, offbeat, faith-soaked romances set in the swingin’ ’60s and funkadelic ’70s (with occasion trips to the nifty ’50s). She says her stories ‘go deep, but not dark. All the feels without the freakouts.’
I love the gorgeous colours and textures of the book cover. It reminds me of our family kitchen, where we had red lino on the floor and big flowered curtains. (I found the fabric design online — this is it below)
I asked Marline what inspired her novel. Not her kitchen curtains, apparently.
Alison: How did you come to write All men are Liars?
Marline: After asking myself “what if I’d stayed with my college boyfriend?”, I re-immersed myself in the Seventies for a few years and surfaced with my debut novel. Having lived through—and loved—that tumultuous era, I think Baby Boomers like me deserve novels celebrating our wild-hearted heritage. Our generation launched Earth Day, rallied for social causes, disco-danced, blew the whistle on a corrupt presidency—we were unstoppable!
When I offered it to big publishing houses, I was informed “no one’s interested in the 1970s.” Say what?
So, in the spirit of the Seventies, I independently published. I figure with millions of Boomers out there, surely some would cherish love stories set during their zealous youth. Not to mention younger readers fascinated by the 1970s!
Alison: What do you miss about the 1970s?
Marline: I miss the 70’s can-do, change-the-world attitude, and I pray my Jesus Revolution romance series will rekindle hope and optimism in my readers. I also miss Yardley Pot O’ Gloss, especially the Astral Wine and Walnut colors, for less world-shaking reasons.
You can find Marline’s book for sale here for US readers, here for UK readers, and here for Australians. I really enjoyed it — the main character, Dana, is delightfully spontaneous, funny and naive. I thought the story was more than a romance — it’s really about a girl finding her feet as a young woman, and figuring out how to live her Christian faith.
This newsletter has been lots of fun to write. I hope it sparked some great memories for you too. Or soaked you in a ‘70s vibe, if you’re too young to remember! I’d love to hear your thoughts or memories, in the comments or by return email.
Catch you on the flip side (back in the nineteenth century most likely) next month.
I am slightly older than your author. I was 18 in 1971 so I definitely remember flared pants . We called them bellbottoms. Our kitchen was avocado. Everywhere.