A Lovely Love Affair Summary

The owner of a small New Orleans café, Marie takes in the destitute Bukowski under the alias Charley Serkin, when Joe Blanchard, editor of the underground newspaper Overthrow introduces them. Marie lives upstairs in a long, narrow apartment. She weighs 250-300 pounds. Marie says that Charlie reminds her of Marty—beat-up like a fighter—and warns him that she is a good girl, brought up right. In the morning, Marie cooks breakfast before going to work, and leaves her purse with a $10 bill in it, probably as a test.

Charlie takes the $10 to buy beer and puts the change back. Marie also makes straw hats to sell to tourists. Watching her intricate work and chatting with her gets him excited. Charlie claims to be exhausted and climbs into her bed and waits for Marie. When...