Acts of Love is Retta's story, but it also belongs to Dallas Dobson and, in many ways, to Zenith, Pennsylvania.

The novel depicts, along with its story of teen-age love, the demise of a rural town. Zenith is a town that once bustled with good health, with the goings and comings of its residents, and with the business of buying and selling in its streets. Now, however, its streets are dominated by empty buildings and failed businesses, and it keeps getting smaller and smaller. Daly's portrayal of Zenith is typical of the disappearance of many rural towns across America.

Retta is a winsome heroine, sensitive and caring, devoted to family and with a strong propensity for doing right.

Her major shortcoming as a character is that she is too good, almost without fault. Unlike most teen-agers, she has no problems with her family, no...