Customer Reviews

To Love Again: A Fairy Tale For Adults Of The Twenty First Century

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The author of this novel has two main interests, and has managed to combine them into a story which will interest all those who share her loves and fears. The unnamed hero of her novel is recognisable to all those who have succumbed to the beauty of the voice of the early twentieth century baritone, Nelson Eddy. This is not a biography of Nelson by someone who never met him, but an affectionate picture of a man known and loved by the author, in real life. The second interest of the author is in the environmental damage we are doing to our planet, and her story takes place in the future, when many of our worst fears have taken place, and the world is in the process of recovery. The two interests are cleverly linked, and offer a ray of hope that mankind may be able to redeem himself, and put right many of his mistakes. But above all, this IS a love story to warm the readers's heart.

I thought the book was a clever imaginative after-life story. The author apparently is a fan of Nelson Eddy and knew all the facts of his life and death that most of us know. I recognized immediately that she had used him as the character for her book. And she was very complimentary and kind with his character. I think the author has a good science fiction mind and wrote a very interesting, futuristic story. Way too long - but I really enjoyed the first couple of chapters.

This is a fantasy about a famous singer of the mid 20th century, transported, after death, to the next century. There, he meets a beautiful woman who has always loved him. HE is obviously based on Nelson Eddy, and the author? Perhaps a former lover, or a devoted fan. An interesting book for Nelson fans, or for those who enjoy science fiction combined with a love story.

According to the author, who spoke at a MacDonald-Eddy luncheon, the main character in this book is really the movie star Nelson Eddy. And it is obvious from the very beginning that this is so. Her main character has no name, just like the "I" in Du Maurier's "Rebecca." It's an interesting plot if you like futuristic novels, and this one isn't set too far in the future, but let's face it, Nelson Eddy fans will want to read it for the love story. You have to keep in mind that this author had an extensive intimate relationship with Nelson Eddy, off-and-on over a period of 20 years. She has preferred to play this down and writes under a literary name, but she did show up in person and was agreeable to answering questions about Nelson, except for the most personal. She said she wrote the book for two reasons, to give some biographical and true understanding of the Nelson she knew and to combine that with a novel idea that she wanted to tell. It's a long book but but thoughtful and well worth reading on many levels. On a related subject, when asked about Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald, as in "did they or didn't they?" she answered that they in fact "did," that Nelson himself told her and she learned from him some of the details over the years. In fact, she only ever saw him when he had a falling out with Jeanette or was angry with his wife. This author knew the man at his most vulnerable and her book gives us a glimpse of what it was like to be close to this sensitive, artistic man. I highly recommend it!

Though this is basically a love story, it ranges over a number of subjects, many of which are controversal. Whether one agrees with the authors assumption of what our earth's future may be like or not, it can make you stop and think. She is at least not afraid to tackle the one cause of our earthly woes which politicians and most writers shy away from.

To Love Again is the author's obviously deeply-felt tribute
to singing star Nelson Eddy. The premise of the story is a
good one - two lovers transported into a future world that has
suffered from the selfish thoughtlessness of human beings and is
slowly being rebuilt, while they themselves have a chance to
live their lives over again in the love that was denied them
the first time round.

Unfortunately, it seems the publishers envisioned a limited
market, and thought it wasn't worth spending time and money
providing an editor. The book, while a lot of fun to read,
is marred by numerous mistakes in grammar, spelling and
punctuation, not to mention construction, that a good editor
would have tidied up. Obviously, there was no proof reader
either, else the many typos would also not have gone unnoticed.

An interesting book that could have been much better.