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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………
………………………..1

VOCABULARY
WORDS……………………………………………………………
..2

CHARACTERS……………………………………………………
….………………………3

SUMMARY………………………………………………………
……………………….......4

CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATION………………………....5
 INTRODUCTION

The year was 1966. A year for Atlanta, the country, and one
woman making her way in a changing world, nothing would
ever be the same.

Set in the cusp of the country's great social movements, in

the year before love turned to anger and peace to militancy,
Downtown is a story of Smoky O'Donnell, her career and her
heart.

When Smoky arrives in Atlanta in 1966, after an airless

lifetime back in Savannah, she is at once thrilled and
chastened by this dazzling, hectic young city on the move.
Her new job as a writer with Atlanta's Downtown magazine
introduces her to many unforgettable people, including three
young men who will change her life in ways she never
thought possible.

Smoky's choices, and her ultimate decisions, create a

tender, joyous and powerful story of the end of innocence --
both Smoky's and America's -- at a time when traditional
values are in question and the air is laden with possibilities.
 CHARACTERS
1. Maureen "Smoky" O'Donnell
- An Irish girl who went to Atlanta to pursue
her dream as a writer.
2. Matt Comfort
-He is the friend of Luke Geary.
3. Brad Hunt
-He is an owner of a construction magazine
in Atlanta.
4. Luke Geary
-He is the photographer of Atlanta Magazine.
5. John Howard
-He is the friend of Luke Geary.
6. Tom Gordon
-He is the chief editor of the said magazine.
7. Culver Carnes
-The owner of Atlanta Magazine.
 VOCABULARY WORDS
1. Blaspheme- To speak of (God or a sacred entity) in an
irreverent, impious manner.
2. Shins- The front part of the leg below the knee and above
the ankle.
3. Apoplexy- Sudden impairment of neurological function,
especially that resulting from a cerebral hemorrhage; a
stroke.
4. Flaunt- To exhibit ostentatiously or shamelessly.
5. Languidly- Lacking energy or vitality; weak.
6. Flourish- To be in a period of highest productivity,
excellence, or influence.
7. Chute- An inclined trough, passage, or channel through or
down which things may pass.
8. Spruced- Any of various similar or related trees.
9. Snuffed- To inhale (something) audibly through the nose;
sniff.
10. Sleaziness- Thin and loosely woven; flimsy.
11. Stud- An upright post in the framework of a wall for
supporting sheets of lath, wallboard, or similar material.
12. Gleefully- Full of jubilant delight.
13. Flounce- A strip of decorative, usually gathered or
pleated material attached by one edge, as on a garment
or curtain.
14. Grim- Harsh or formidable in manner or appearance.
15. Provenance- The history of the ownership of an object,
especially when documented or authenticated. Used of
artworks, antiques, and books.
16. Vehemently- Characterized by forcefulness of expression
or intensity of emotion.
17. Prissy- Excessively or affectedly prim and proper.
18. torpor- A state of mental or physical inactivity or
insensibility.
 SUMMARY
When Smoky O'Donnell, a small-town girl with big-city
ambitions, arrives in Atlanta in the spring of 1966, both she
and the city find themselves on the brink of cataclysmic and
irrevocable change. Invited to be a new writer for the
burgeoning Downtown magazine by its eccentric and
revolutionary editor, Matt Comfort, Smoky finds herself
thrown into a social and political whirlwind that is a world
apart from her conservative, sheltered family in Savannah.
Embracing the city, and the nascent Civil Rights Movement
that is enveloping it, Smoky rises from caption writer to
fearless chronicler of the Civil Rights Movement as it sweeps
through Atlanta, forever transforming first the once sleepy
city, and then the nation. In this tumultuous time of
conflicting passions, Smoky also finds herself torn between
three young men: Brad Hunt, the wealthy young scion of "old
Atlanta," who loves Smoky but fears her passion for her
career; Luke Geary, a rakish photojournalist who becomes
her sparring partner both at the magazine and in bed; and
John Howard, the young civil rights activist who works as a
right-hand man to Martin Luther King Jr. Set amidst the
swirling melee of the late '60's, Downtown celebrates and
illuminates the extraordinary journey of Smoky O'Donnell
from a sheltered girl to an irrepressible woman, writer,
activist, and lover.
 CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATION
What makes "Downtown" resonate for me is
that Siddons captures so well the boundless
energy, excitement, passion, zeal and
optimism of a young woman making her way
on her own.

The civil rights and women's movements,

Atlanta's rise, and the Sixties are a wonderful
backdrop, and Siddons draws well on her own
experiences to create a fascinating setting. But
it's Smoky's discovery of her voice, her spine,
her identity, her passion and her purpose in her
journey from reed woman-child to strong
woman that gives the story life.

Any woman who remembers the dizzying,

almost scary, thrill of the endless possibilities
that came with striking out on your own for the
first time -- as well as the disappointments,
compromises and disillusionments that follow --
can identify with Smoky.