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Wanderlove
What would you do if you were a traveller with severe wanderlust, out of your country for the first time, and you fell in love?
And what would you do if you were separated from your new love after only a few days?
Would you search an entire continent?
Europe is a big place when you’ve lost someone.
It’s worse if you’re on the run.
Worse still if you’re guilty.
It doesn’t get any easier when your only friend is a drug addicted vagabond.
Colleen is a naïve young American touring Europe just after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Florian is the experienced traveller she falls in love with. He encourages her to do something she knows she shouldn’t, and then disappears. Colleen, carrying the resultant load of guilt alone, sets out to find him. With the entire European continent to search, she realises she doesn’t really know that much about him, having only a few vague leads to follow, with only her drug-addicted friend for company. A year later, having confronted her guilt and learned some uncomfortable truths about herself, will she still love Florian? Will she ever love anyone or anything again?
A novel of love and travel.
And what would you do if you were separated from your new love after only a few days?
Would you search an entire continent?
Europe is a big place when you’ve lost someone.
It’s worse if you’re on the run.
Worse still if you’re guilty.
It doesn’t get any easier when your only friend is a drug addicted vagabond.
Colleen is a naïve young American touring Europe just after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Florian is the experienced traveller she falls in love with. He encourages her to do something she knows she shouldn’t, and then disappears. Colleen, carrying the resultant load of guilt alone, sets out to find him. With the entire European continent to search, she realises she doesn’t really know that much about him, having only a few vague leads to follow, with only her drug-addicted friend for company. A year later, having confronted her guilt and learned some uncomfortable truths about herself, will she still love Florian? Will she ever love anyone or anything again?
A novel of love and travel.
348 pages, Paperback
First published December 3, 2010
12 people want to read
About the author
Bart Cline
13 books37 followersBart Cline was born in California, USA.
After finishing school he studied film making before abruptly leaving the country to travel. His experiences on the road form the basis for many scenes from his first novel, Wanderlove.
Instead of returning to the USA as he had planned, he stayed in Europe for another year, and then another, before marrying and settling in northern England. Always restless, short careers in publishing, graphics, and IT kept bread on the table.
When his wife passed away due to cancer, he re-thought his life and turned to writing as a career.
Mr Cline has two children and is remarried.
Copout, Mr Cline’s 2013 novel, is a thought-provoking police thriller about a detective who works out the clues to his cases in his dreams.
His newest book, Send Him Victorious, is an amazing epic thriller about what would happen if today’s kings and queens ruled with absolute authority as in the past. How would it affect his or her family, country, and the world? Buy and read to find out!
After finishing school he studied film making before abruptly leaving the country to travel. His experiences on the road form the basis for many scenes from his first novel, Wanderlove.
Instead of returning to the USA as he had planned, he stayed in Europe for another year, and then another, before marrying and settling in northern England. Always restless, short careers in publishing, graphics, and IT kept bread on the table.
When his wife passed away due to cancer, he re-thought his life and turned to writing as a career.
Mr Cline has two children and is remarried.
Copout, Mr Cline’s 2013 novel, is a thought-provoking police thriller about a detective who works out the clues to his cases in his dreams.
His newest book, Send Him Victorious, is an amazing epic thriller about what would happen if today’s kings and queens ruled with absolute authority as in the past. How would it affect his or her family, country, and the world? Buy and read to find out!
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 23, 2013
Unfortunately, this book was not for me!
Don't get me wrong, I loved the idea of back packing through Europe and I really enjoyed reading about the different towns that Colleen visited. It took me back to my time in Europe and my experiences which are always fun to reminisce about. I also enjoyed the view of Berlin right after the fall of the wall. I haven't read many stories set in that time period so that was new for me. Unfortunately, that's where my good feelings stopped. Even though I enjoyed the different places she went, I felt like the descriptions of the town were general and just information rather than really describing them and helping the reader picture what that town is really like. Even when I've actually been there it was hard to imagine! I also felt that a lot of the book was filler and not needed. There were random conversations that didn't make sense and didn't add anything to story.
I could even forgive all of that and still enjoy the story but what really ruined this book for me were the characters. In general, I need to connect with the characters to really enjoy a story so this book didn't have much of a chance with me. I can connect with the characters because I hate them, because I can relate to them, because they are inspiring or impressive, just about anything, but if I don't connect in some way, I'm not going to enjoy the book. I really couldn't connect with Colleen. I didn't like her much either. I thought she was a very naive traveler which makes for a very dangerous vacation. I thought she made stupid decisions that led to bad outcomes that could have easily been avoided. I couldn't connect with Florian because I knew NOTHING about him. I couldn't connect with Alsion because I thought her drug addiction was more convenient for the story line than actually thought out. I just didn't like them and couldn't find redeeming qualities.
I also hated the fact that this was a "love story." I may have missed the part where either Colleen or Flo exhibited any kind of romantic feelings or relationship prior to "falling in love." It didn't seem legitimate and definitely didn't warrant a life changing year long journey to reconnect. I felt like something was missing.
P. 220
Don't get me wrong, I loved the idea of back packing through Europe and I really enjoyed reading about the different towns that Colleen visited. It took me back to my time in Europe and my experiences which are always fun to reminisce about. I also enjoyed the view of Berlin right after the fall of the wall. I haven't read many stories set in that time period so that was new for me. Unfortunately, that's where my good feelings stopped. Even though I enjoyed the different places she went, I felt like the descriptions of the town were general and just information rather than really describing them and helping the reader picture what that town is really like. Even when I've actually been there it was hard to imagine! I also felt that a lot of the book was filler and not needed. There were random conversations that didn't make sense and didn't add anything to story.
I could even forgive all of that and still enjoy the story but what really ruined this book for me were the characters. In general, I need to connect with the characters to really enjoy a story so this book didn't have much of a chance with me. I can connect with the characters because I hate them, because I can relate to them, because they are inspiring or impressive, just about anything, but if I don't connect in some way, I'm not going to enjoy the book. I really couldn't connect with Colleen. I didn't like her much either. I thought she was a very naive traveler which makes for a very dangerous vacation. I thought she made stupid decisions that led to bad outcomes that could have easily been avoided. I couldn't connect with Florian because I knew NOTHING about him. I couldn't connect with Alsion because I thought her drug addiction was more convenient for the story line than actually thought out. I just didn't like them and couldn't find redeeming qualities.
I also hated the fact that this was a "love story." I may have missed the part where either Colleen or Flo exhibited any kind of romantic feelings or relationship prior to "falling in love." It didn't seem legitimate and definitely didn't warrant a life changing year long journey to reconnect. I felt like something was missing.
P. 220
September 3, 2013
This was a well-written tale of a girl's travels criss-crossing Europe by backpack while she ostensibly searches for a lost lover and runs from what she perceives to be a great crime and moral failing. A romantic tale, yes, and well-told, apart from what I perceived to be a few pitfalls and plot holes. For one, I was absolutely unconvinced of Colleen and Florian's true love; never during their month-long courtship did I see any moments that managed to convince me it was more than a passing affair, and the last sentence of the book make me suspect this was true. I also found Colleen to be a morally ambiguous character, which made it difficult to determine her motivation. Her preoccupation with morality lent her a lack of agency that I found disturbing in a person faced with so great a quest. Simultaneously self-righteous and petty, I found it impossible to discern whether or not Colleen was religious, as she seem obsessed with sin and wracked with guilt, though she barely mentions any other fundamental tenets of religion. On the other hand, I'm grateful that a religious Colleen wasn't used merely as an excuse to give the reader a tour of the architecture of cathedrals around Europe. As the story stood, sightseeing was effortlessly woven into the text, providing framework for the narrative when it would have been easy to reverse the relationship and use the story as a frame for a masturbatory tour of Europe.
If you want a light-hearted romp through Europe, Colleen's sense of guilt may be a little heavy for you, but you'll no doubt find the scenery enjoyable. Though I was unimpressed with the book as a study of a human being-- of her guilt and repentance and what she would do for love-- as a narrative on humanity and culture in general, it was quite entertaining.
If you want a light-hearted romp through Europe, Colleen's sense of guilt may be a little heavy for you, but you'll no doubt find the scenery enjoyable. Though I was unimpressed with the book as a study of a human being-- of her guilt and repentance and what she would do for love-- as a narrative on humanity and culture in general, it was quite entertaining.
February 12, 2016
I liked the traveling side of this book, this is something I've always wanted to do, so I enjoyed living it vicariously.
The whole Florian thing just didn't make a lot of sense though.
I just didn't even get a sense of passion, not to mention the great love that was supposed to be there.
The Christian guilt thing was another part that made no sense whatsoever.
I didn't get the sense that Colleen was at all religious, so being so affected by the preacher made very little sense.
I did enjoy reading it, but story could have been more invested in Colleen finding Florian again. As it was, it was just an annoying distraction from her travels.
The whole Florian thing just didn't make a lot of sense though.
I just didn't even get a sense of passion, not to mention the great love that was supposed to be there.
The Christian guilt thing was another part that made no sense whatsoever.
I didn't get the sense that Colleen was at all religious, so being so affected by the preacher made very little sense.
I did enjoy reading it, but story could have been more invested in Colleen finding Florian again. As it was, it was just an annoying distraction from her travels.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews