The rich optimism of 1950s postwar America is sensually and eloquently evoked in Keith Maillard’s Gloria, the third book in his acclaimed Raysburg series.

Behind the affluent facade of the West Virginia steel town of Raysburg, young Gloria Cotter is struggling with being bright, unconventional, and independent-minded. She is deeply troubled by her fascination with sex (only men are supposed to enjoy it), and has a voracious appetite for words, poetry, and books. Although Gloria dreams of doing a PhD at Columbia University, her upper crust mother is only interested in grooming her to marry well.

As the story opens, Gloria is home from college for the summer, lounging around her parents’ spacious house, swimming in their pool, and keeping boredom at bay by supping with friends at the exclusive country club down the road. Although she is the privileged princess of a wealthy family, she is rendered here sympathetically, as someone endeavouring against her birthright.

Gloria is not keen to marry right away, and has told her boyfriend as much, but she agonizes over his displeasure at her plans to attend graduate school. The novel hinges on Gloria’s dilemma – will she go to Columbia, or will she forgo academia for a grade-A fiancé? A subplot involves a suspenseful encounter with a family friend, who turns out to be a sexual stalker.

Interspersed throughout the text are references to Spenser, Wyatt, Chaucer, Wordsworth, and Petrarch, giving the reader a rich sense of English literary history. And it’s not just a rehash of the canon. For a college English paper, Gloria writes a highly original interpretation (challenging the accepted ones) of Spenser’s The Faerie Queen, suggesting that the blood drawn from wounds in combat is actually symbolic of menstrual blood. That Gloria is even admitted to the class (she’s initially turned away because she’s a woman), nevermind her thesis, is indicative of her strong personality.

Maillard, an associate professor in creative writing at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, whose Hazard Zones was shortlisted for the 1995 Commonwealth Literary Prize, has written a compelling and beautifully crafted epic about the strength of individual character.