For fifty years, Abe and Jane have been coming to Central Park, as starry-eyed young lovers, as frustrated and exhausted parents, as artists watching their careers take flight. They came alone when they needed to get away from each other, and together when they had something important to discuss. The Park has been their witness for half a century of love. Until now.
Jane is dying, and Abe is recounting their life together as a way of keeping them going: the parts they knew—their courtship and early marriage, their blossoming creative lives—and the parts they didn’t always want to know—the determined young student of Abe’s looking for a love story of her own, and their son, Max, who believes his mother chose art over parenthood, and who has avoided love and intimacy at all costs. Told in various points of view, even in conversation with Central Park, these voices weave in and out to paint a portrait as complicated and essential as love itself.
An homage to New York City, to romance, and even to loss, This Is a Love Story tenderly and suspensefully captures deep truths about life and marriage in radiant prose. It is about love that endures despite what life throws at us, or perhaps even because of it. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)
What I thought I was getting with this story ended up being COMPLETELY different, but in the BEST way possible!
I don't know about you but I go into so many books completely blind, often based on cover, title, or favorite author alone. I love to be surprised by the plot, the characters, and the feelings that are evoked from a thoughtful story.
I am a character-driven reader. I LOVE characters and what they feel and think and do and why and why not and this story had all of that. I also love to read stories that leave an imprint, that make me think, and that make me grateful, and Abe and Jane did just that. If you think this is a romance, it is, in my opinion, but it is also not, and you just need to read it to understand that.
This is my first read by Jessica Soffer and her writing is very unique. It is lyrical and soulful. I found myself highlighting so much of this story. I loved the way it was told. I loved that you get multiple perspectives including that of Central Park in New York City. I am a Jersey girl and have never been to Central Park. Not sure what I have been doing with my life but I will DEFINITELY be visiting now! I love all the little facts I learned about the park. It is probably one of the more interesting characters I have met in a book.
I really, really don’t want to give anything away. Just know that this story will be one you are going to remember for some time to come. It will be one that will make you think, make you feel, make you reflect. It is one that I highly recommend.
Thanks to Dutton for the book in exchange for an honest review. Purchase This is a Love Story here.
Also by Jessica Soffer: Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots
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1 comment:
sounds like a good one
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