The History of Love

     Author                              Nicole Krauss

     Country                            United States

     Genre                               Fiction

     Publication Date              2005

     Pages                                252








My book club decided to go romantic in the month of February and that's how I ended up with this book. Having heard raving reviews about the book, I was a little more than disappointed.

The book is about Leo Gutsky who is an elderly Jewish man living in New York and is the author of the now famous book 'The History of Love'. Unfortunately, Leo doesn't know that the book; the manuscript of which he had handed over to his friend while escaping Poland ever got published. His book is about the love of his life who ends up getting married to another man; hence; it is believed to be a very passionate & romantic book.

In a parallel story, a young Jewish girl who has been named after the central character of her parent's favorite book (gifted by her late father to her mom) believes that the secret to her mom's happiness would lie in this book and hence, focuses on getting to the bottom of it. 

All of this leads her to an emotional meeting with Leo in the final climax of the book; where she asks him some poignant questions about his love and the book; leading to Leo's sudden death by a heart attack. 

While the author's writing style is comfortable and free flowing; the book is far too disconnected for my liking. The story line and the concept are appealing; however; the meshing together of disparate stories is far from perfect.

The author tries hard to make this a book of unrequited love and passion, the story; however; fails to stir any emotion in an otherwise emotional and passionate me. I, would, thus not recommend this book to anyone who likes being moved by words!