Love Among the Ruins (2008)

A wistful letter to Emily Byrne from her long-lost love William Lowry opens Clark's lyrical novel, which then moves back in time to recapture the romance of the characters when they were teenagers. Though a full-scale moratorium on novels (and movies and memoirs) set in the much-chronicled summer of 1968 might be a good idea, Clark manages to avoid all '60s age-of-innocence nostalgia by exploring the emotional terrain of first love without sentimentality. William and Emily are more into theoretical discussions about God, love, and morality than sex, drugs, and rock & roll (though each does make an appearance), and the seriousness with which they approach the world and each other gives Ruins a satisfying richness.