Characters of Love Pb [Paperback]

Susie Boyt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 3, 1997

THE CHARACTERS OF LOVE beautifully captures the fledgling emotions of a young woman in thrall to her hungry heart. Susie Boyt reveals a shockingly acute ability to depict the triumphs and disasters of love.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Nell Dorney is a young Englishwoman accustomed to disappointments in love. Her parents' marriage foundered when she was a year old, and her father effectively disappeared from her life. After a lengthy sojourn in America, he reappears at her tenth birthday party with a gift so outrageously expensive that her cash-strapped mother exchanges it to pay bills and buy Nell a more sensible wardrobe. Nell is at first wary of her father's attempts to insinuate himself into her life but gradually lets down her guard, only to have him abandon her upon returning to the States after a few years. When Nell develops a crush on a handsome lecturer and poet, she seems destined to suffer another letdown. But what begins as infatuation develops into mutual attraction and deepens into love. Boyt perfectly captures the emotional intensity of a first love that progresses through heartbreak to maturity. What can you say to a 27-year-old author whose second novel (following The Normal Man, Trafalgar Square, 1997) is this wise and accomplished? Keep writing. Recommended for all fiction collections.?Barbara Love, Kingston P.L., Ontario
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

In an attempt to plumb the nature of obsessional love, this slim British novel dabbles with psychological motivations but comes up with a pretty simplistic analysis. It begins well. In a coolly detached narrative, the exacting life of psychiatrist Richard Fisher is described, including his new-found interest in child psychology. He has begun to miss Nell, the child of a brief marriage, whom he hasn't seen since she was a toddler. Now back from a long sabbatical in the States, he decides to reenter the girl's life on her 11th birthday. Thereafter, meeting every Wednesday for tea and talk, he wins her heart, her respect, her star-struck awe. A number of years pass in this manner, father and daughter's ritual steady and comforting, until Fisher informs Nell one evening that he's moving back to America for a job he can't pass up. Flash-forward a few years as Nell, still pining for her father, enters college and develops a crush of epic proportions on her tutor/father-figure, the distinguished drunkard/melancholy poet Bill Marnie. Her endearing crush evolves into a feverish fixation and, unexpectedly, her fantasies come to life: Nell is in heaven, and Marnie is giddy with love. He proposes marriage but then, afflicted by a recurring mental illness, suffers a total breakdown (we learn later its source), which in turn throws Nell into a near-catatonic tailspin. Surprisingly, the first man who ``left'' her, her father, suddenly returns to live in London-- an end that implies a therapeutic resolution to Nell's problems. Second-novelist Boyt (The Normal Man, published only in UK) begins by crafting a complex psychological portrait of her protagonist, but then resorts to a serviceable romance plot that veers away from any deep or original exploration of the ways love and obsession can commingle. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Phoenix Paperbacks (November 3, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0753802309
• ISBN-13: 978-0753802304
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,712,839 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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