Despite the ravages of WWI on Paris and on the young American farm boy, Beck Sanow, and despite the abusive relationship that the chanteuse Cerise endures, the two share a bond that is unbreakable by time, war, loss of memory, loss of life and loss of youth.

Beck and Cerise are both good people beset by constant tragedy. Yet it is tragedy that brings them together, and it is unconditional love that keeps them together.

Beck thinks of Cerise as "songbird." The only peace he has is drinking himself to oblivion and imagining the mystery of making love. Cerise has been systematically battered by a demented fiancé. Beck sees her as a woman hungry for gentleness and mercy. Cerise finds these qualities, and more, in Beck.

How much sorrow can the human Spirit endure? What is the limit of anguish that will finally destroy the life flow within us? Cerise and Beck , the main characters of Laurel Johnson' novel, The Alley Of Wishes, could answer these questions for you.

Writes book reviewer and literary agent, Jeanette Lundgren: "I read the first half of this book at breakneck speed and realized the main characters of The Alley of Wishes could be reincarnations of Jean Valjean and Fantine of Les Miserables who met and lost each other rather quickly in Revolutionary Paris. However, Laurel Johnson's work is much more than Les Miserables. This is a lovely and painfully dramatic book that--for those of us who love the classic works of literature--will be here when many commercial works of fiction have faded. If you believe in the ultimate triumph of love, faith and friendship, The Alley of Wishes is a book that you should both read and cherish.