The History of Love by Nicole Krauss is a beautiful and sad novel about elderly writer Leo Gursky. He is at the end of his life and fears becoming invisible. The novel traces his past from a small Polish town that he fled during the Jewish persecution of WWII, and the girl he loved and lost, Alma, who he wrote The History of Love for.
He thought the novel lost, but it ended up in South America, translated into Spanish and published by another writer; where it was given by another man to his love, and later their daughter was named Alma after the main character. Years later, this young Alma searches for the author of this forgotten manuscript and we follow both the journey of the elder Leo and the young Alma throughout the novel.
At times I was confused by the story-unsure of who was even speaking, and frustrated by her overuse of the phrase "And yet." Other times I was taken in by the beauty of Krauss's writing.
Overall, I think it was a truly beautiful, well crafted, and yet, heartbreakingly sad book.
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