Gilbert Reid So This Is Love

So This Is Love

Gilbert Reid

St. Martin's, Jul 2006, $23.95

ISBN: 0312349858

This nine story collection provides a wide look at love, but not from a romance novel's perspective. Each tale is interesting, but the best are those involving love that comes out of the ashes of hatred and misery like the haunting first story "Pavilion 24", which the audience will read twice and stop for the night because it is haunting. War plays a matchmaking role in several of the contributions as Gilbert Reid makes the case that out of the seeds of dissension and strife love can still blossom (think Romeo and Juliet), but loss can also follow. A couple of the tales turn too literary for this compilation; this makes them seem like they do not belong as the sense of a wretched place is lacking though ironically they are well written. However, for the most part readers will peruse several times these fascinating tales of love out of the ruins of hate and despair even when there is no happily ever after.

Harriet Klausner