Trial of True Love [Hardcover]

William Nicholson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2, 2005

Do people really fall in love at first sight? Bron is a writer who has been commissioned to research a book on the subject. He's also a commitment-phobe who doesn't believe it happens. Then the chance combination of a misty morning, the dreamy setting of a woodland glade, and a glimpse of a beautiful stranger changes everything. Bron falls helplessly, hopelessly, head over heels in love - at first sight. He abandons his research and devotes himself to pursuing the enigmatic Flora and winning her heart. But each time he comes close to her, she slips out of reach again. Bron's pursuit of love leads him ever deeper into a maze where nothing is as it seems, until he finds himself having to defend the truth of his feelings in a 'trial of love'. In this gripping, searching novel of ideas, art and literature, William Nicholson weaves an intricate tale of suspense as he explores what it is men and women really want from each other.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Screenwriter, playwright and novelist Nicholson (Shadowlands; Gladiator; The Society of Others) offers up talky, philosophical characters in "a story about falling in love" set in 1977, the year the narrator Bron turns 30. When his friend (and ex-girlfriend) Anna kicks him out of their shared London flat, Bron retreats to the countryside home of his friend Bernard. He plans to write a book about true love, focusing on the case history of French postimpressionist painter Paul Marotte, who was smitten during a chance meeting with the woman who became his lover and muse. Bron—who has always been commitment-shy—finds his life echoing the painter's when he meets and instantly falls for Bernard's cousin, the beautiful, mysterious Flora. When he tells her of his feelings, she flees—setting Bron on a journey to Amsterdam, where he meets the eccentric art dealer Freddy Christiansen, who owns some of Marotte's letters and paintings and also knows Flora. Bron's continual musings on true love grow trite and repetitive, and the outcome of his romantic quest is less of a surprise than what he learns about Marotte. Still, Nicholson pulls off an ending that resounds with the echoes of romance that his narrator has been pondering. (Mar. 21)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Thirty-year-old confirmed bachelor Dearborn (known to all as Bron) is fascinated by the work of symbolist painter Paul Marotte. Soon after the London writer decides to make the artist the focal point of a book about love at first sight, he meets his friend's beautiful and mysterious cousin, Flora, and is instantly smitten. Under the guise of research, he follows Flora to Amsterdam and finds himself in the company of a distinguished art collector, whose relationship with the young woman is enigmatic at best. Bron finds eerie parallels between Paul Marotte's life and his own, as he contemplates the connections among art, literature, and love. An acclaimed British playwright (Shadowlands) and novelist (The Society of Others), Nicholson serves up a compelling story line and a cast of intriguing characters. (Bron's ex-girlfriend, Anna, has the novel's most piquant lines, although Flora, as the object of desire, could have been fleshed out a bit more.) Clever plot twists seal the deal in this thought-provoking tale about lives transformed in the blink of an eye. Allison Block
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 229 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday (May 2, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385608705
• ISBN-13: 978-0385608701
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,081,788 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "worship before knowledge, icons before photographs, dreams before memories.", August 26, 2005

By 

Luan Gaines "luansos" (Dana Point, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Trial of True Love (Hardcover)

At age thirty, Bron, a London writer, remains commitment phobic, on the verge of what he hopes will be a successful career, with a contract to compose a book about love at first sight. Bron throws himself into this task with a vengeance, his premise based primarily on the life and love of Artist Paul Marotte. The young author, who has despaired of ever experiencing his topic first hand, moves to a cottage on the estate of his friend, where (viola!) Bron meets the beautiful and mysterious Flora. Casting aside the task at hand for more personal pursuits, Bron follows Flora to Amsterdam, suddenly embroiled in the confusion and angst of his own "love at first sight".

Captivated by Flora, Bron questions his own presumptions of romance and fidelity, the loving self closely tied to the true self. He is on the chase of his life, pursuing Flora, who is not only married but cynical, believing all men who desire her are only after one thing. She isn't sure how to assess Bron, who enjoys more success with her by posing theories on the nature of love than bringing his affections to fruition. For his part, Bron is so consumed with the ideal of Flora that he fails to analyze the attraction beyond her beauty and resistance, but Bron is eventually stimulated in his writing endeavors in this strange dance, forced to reassess his own assumptions. It is difficult to have sympathy for Flora, burdened with her beauty, resenting the covert stares of men. Flora's response to all and sundry is petulant, much like those who agonize over their burden, "don't hate me because I'm beautiful".

While in Amsterdam, Bron meets Freddy Christensen, an art collector who enjoys discussing the Nazi Occupation's usurpation of Jewish art collections during the war, as allowed by Regulation 58/42. The Germans saved the paintings, while exterminating their owners. Freddy gleefully attacks Bron's theories of true love, asking, "Is it possible that what a man wants to give is not what a woman wants to receive?" Bron believes that love can be given, while Freddy suggests it can only be taken. The quandary for Bron is in determining the right approach to Flora, but much of his enchantment is predicated on fantasy. The formerly commitment-phobic is in new territory, unsure and dangerously romantic.

The Trial of True Love is a departure for Nicholson, whose previous novel, The Society of Others, was of an entirely different nature. This more romantically-inclined novel woven around the fictitious painter, Paul Marotte and Bron's own amorous adventures, Nicholson uses fragments of letters from the artist to his beloved, a governess; he also mines literature for sentiments from like-mined poets and authors, all building a case that Bron is forced to prove to himself. After all the hyperbole, Bron must test his assumptions in real life, with himself as the guinea pig. The elusive Flora leads Bron on a lively chase, as does her Marotte-collecting friend, Freddy Christiansen. Bron's personal lesson in love and self-deception is the most difficult of all, yet ultimately the most rewarding. Luan Gaines/2005.

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, December 8, 2006

By 

UES - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Trial of True Love (Hardcover)

Thirty-year-old Bron decides to write a book about love at first sight, a topic he knows nothing about (love and relationships are not Bron's strong point). How lucky it is then that he meets Flora, a gorgeous but troubled girl. Of course, he falls in love with her--at first sight. The relationship does not flourish, though. On the contrary. And the end that Nicholson chooses to give his book is both sappy and clichéd, although it might please those readers who need a happy ending, no matter how improbable.

3.0 out of 5 stars Talk, Talk, Talk, July 17, 2006

By 

Rikki Boyce (Memphis, TN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Trial of True Love (Hardcover)

It's a love story. It's a philosophy discussion. You'll like this book if either of those interest you. If you're looking for action, or even much activity, you'll hate it. My book club selected this book, and everyone had extreme opinions. Except me.

Nicely written, it intriuged me so much I started looking up details to see if they were true. That might be why I rather liked this book. But -- fair warning -- doing this will kinda spoil the biggest twist in the plot.