Souls of Steel

Spring. 1974. California, Pennsylvania. A backwater hamlet thirty miles south of Pittsburgh. Steel mills, coal mines, and rail yards line both banks of the Monongahela River all the way north to the steel city. From Youngstown to Johnstown to Morgantown the nighttime sky is red with heat. Soot and clay. The daytime sky is a pillar of cloud.
Souls of Steel covers the period from 1974 to 1985. One family. Three generations. The main characters are Tad and Laura Gallo. He, a lost soul from the '60s. A cynic. A weakling. A user of women. The shame of his Pittsburgh steelworking family. Until Laura. She, a parents' pride perfect little girl. Who sees him for the man he should be. And he becomes. However, her maiden name is Henderson. The two families have been feuding bitterly since the turn of the century. Fighting in the streets like Montagues and Capulets. Tad and Laura's meeting and marriage are kept secret. But not for long.