Review: A History Of Love

ONE OF THE MOST LOVED NOVELS OF THE DECADE. A long-lost book reappears, mysteriously connecting an old man searching for his son and a girl seeking a cure for her widowed mother’s loneliness.   Leo Gursky taps his radiator each evening to let his upstairs neighbor know he’s still alive. But it wasn’t always like this: in the Polish village of his youth, he fell in love and wrote a book. . . . Sixty years later and half a world away, fourteen-year-old Alma, who was named after a character in that book, undertakes an adventure to find her namesake and save her family. With virtuosic skill and soaring imaginative power, Nicole Krauss gradually draws these stories together toward a climax of “extraordinary depth and beauty” (Newsday).

From Goodreads:”Leo Gursky is trying to survive a little bit longer, tapping his radiator each evening to let his upstairs neighbor know he’s still alive, drawing attention to himself at the milk counter of Starbucks. But life wasn’t always like this: sixty years ago, in the Polish village where he was born, Leo fell in love and wrote a book. And although he doesn’t know it, that book also survived: it crossed oceans and generations, and changed lives.” Fourteen-year-old Alma was named after a character in that book. She has her hands full keeping track of her little brother Bird (who thinks he might be the Messiah) and taking copious notes in her book, How to Survive in the Wild Volume Three. But when a mysterious letter arrives in the mail she undertakes an adventure to find her namesake and save her family.

My Review: I cant believe it took me so long to read this book! I had heard good things about it but did not read it until I picked it up a the library. the characters are extremely likeable and the twist and turns just keep on coming.

I did find it hard in the beginning to keep all the characters straight but as I became more engrossed in the story I found this to be less of a problem.

It explores relationships and how they came to be. It revolves around the fictional book “The History of Love”. It details how this book impacted all who came into contact with it. It even has passages so you can get an idea of what the book is. I loved this. It was a story within a story.  Actually there were several plotlines that all came together beautifully  in the end. And the end! It was beautiful.

It also delves into the emotions of the characters. It explores loneness in old age. A young girl who is trying to understand the woman she was named after. Even the little brother Bird we get to see the inner working of his seeming warped mind. The characters all develop beautifully in the course of the novel. There is growth and maturation as each character comes to the end. I became invested in all of the characters and wanted things to work out well for them.

I have to say again this book is a must read. If you haven’t read it yet go now and do it!