You Are the Love of My Life

by Susan Richards Shreve

“Spare, elegant and absolutely riveting.” ― People

It’s 1973 and the Watergate scandal is on everyone’s lips. Lucy Painter, a children’s book illustrator and single mother of two, leaves New York and the married father of her children to return to Washington, DC, to the neighborhood where she grew up and the house where her father committed suicide. Lucy hopes for a fresh start, but her life is full of secrets: her children know nothing of her father’s death or the identity of their own father. As new neighbors enter their insular lives, her family’s safety and stability become threatened. Beautifully told, You Are the Love of My Life  is a story of how shame leads to secrets, secrets to lies, and how lies stand in the way of human connection.

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Relationships, Novels, Audiobook, Dc Comics, Adult Fiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published August 20, 2012

About the author

Also know as Susan Shreve. Received the following awards: Jenny Moore Award, George Washington University, 1978; Notable Book citation, American Library Association (ALA), 1979, for Family Secrets: Five Very Important Stories; Best Book for Young Adults citation, ALA, 1980, for The Masquerade; Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, National Council for Social Studies and the Children's Book Council joint committee, 1980, for Family Secrets: Five Very Important Stories; Guggenheim award in fiction, 1980; National Endowment for the Arts fiction award, 1982; Edgar Allan Poe Award, Mystery Writers of America, 1988, for Lucy Forever and Miss Rosetree, Shrinks; Woodrow Wilson fellowships, West Virginia Wesleyan, 1994, and Bates College, 1997; Lila Wallace Readers Digest Foundation grant.

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I almost stopped reading this book a couple times - because it's set in 1973 and yet the main character tells her son he has a birthday party to go to at Chuck E Cheese - which wasn't even around until 1979 (one store in California - who knows when it actually got to Washington D.C., where the book is set). Then it says she put a scrunchy in her hair. Scrunchies weren't around until the 1980s! And she mentions her answering machine several times - which ok, they were around in 1973, but not many people had them, so I had a hard time believing that a woman with no TV and used furniture would have an answering machine. Stuff like this bothers me because it seems amateurish.

I also thought this would focus a little more on Watergate, but it was only mentioned in passing.

Also, Lucy is VERY hard to like. She's so weak and passive. The decade-plus affair with a married man, letting a woman basically mother her child. I can't even imagine.

So I guess I'd recommend the book, but I still can't decide if I even liked it.

[Laurel-Rain · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1951, Samuel Baldwin, an important government employee, was found dead in the family's rental property in Wichita Hills, by his twelve-year-old daughter Lucy.

For many years afterwards, Lucy and her mother lived in Santa Fe, where they had escaped after the scandal. Secrets about that event would cloud their lives from then on.

Until one day when Lucy, by then a well-known children's book author, left New York with her two children to move into that home, where their lives would never be the same again. For into the insular world of the neighborhood, where boundaries were unheard of and where everyone wanted to know everything about the others, the secrets in Lucy's life would separate her from them and turn her into someone about whom they whispered. And, invariably, Lucy's twelve-year-old daughter Maggie would wonder about that part of their lives her mother would not talk about.

Like who was the father of the two children, Maggie and Felix? Why did her mother tell so many lies? What really happened to Lucy's father? And why was her mother not like the others? The differences would pull Maggie away from her mother and hurtle her into the path of unseen danger from an unexpected source.

Most of the story is set during 1973, with the dark cloud of Watergate hovering over the nation, creating mistrust and doubt everywhere. And yet the 1970s also reflected times of change and freedom, with women's issues at the forefront and the War in Vietnam ending.

The behavior of the characters in "You Are the Love of My Life: A Novel" reminded me of people in my own suburban neighborhood back then. When they might walk into your home as if the doors were ever open to them; when people wanted to know your innermost thoughts; and when, if you didn't want to share, you were labeled "different" and "uncool." This book was a painful reminder of what can go awry when secrets and lies are part of who you are and when protective boundaries do not exist. Five stars!

[Chris Witkowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Happened upon this book while working, looked interesting. Just what affect does keeping secrets have on a woman's relationship with her children, her ability to make friends, to experience intimacy? Indeed, on her ability to enjoy life? Lucy Painter's life is all about hiding the truth and in the novel a series of events occur that force her to face reality and come clean. Very interesting plot, but the writing was truly maddening. At times I felt as though I needed to diagram the sentences, they were so convoluted and disjointed. And some of the characters! Good grief, if I ever moved into an area where the neighbors felt entitled to just walk into my kitchen, unbidden, at all hours of the day and night, I'd move out fast! And how a mother could sit by so calmly and watch while another woman basically attempts to steal her child, is beyond me. Weird book.

[Anne Lowrey Cox · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not quite a waste of my time but close. Characters that seem to have been inspired by 'The Help' but not nearly as well developed, secrets reminiscent of 'Ya Ya Sisterhood' but lots of loose ends. An interesting premise and story disappointingly told.

[Joey Robinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won this book from GoodReads so THanks!!!

The characters in this book were all really pathetic. I didn't like any of them except maybe the kids. Lucy, the main character, was really hard to like. She has two kids with a married man and is either too stupid or too pathetic to realize that he is NEVER going to leave his wife. I tried to feel sorry for her (due to her finding her father dead), but even that was hard to do. She meets her neighbors who all have their own secrets. Her daughter, Maggie resents her mother for keeping secrets from her. Maggie befriends, Zee the neigborhood busy body. Zee becomes obsessed with Maggie due to her own personal tragedy. The writing was good and I kept reading in hopes that the characters would evolve and emerge with some kind of backbone. It was interesting but too depressing to enjoy. I did at least have a little bit of hope for Zee and her family at the end. However, I have no clue what will become of the hopeless Lucy and spineless Reuben.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a very haphazard book. The plot meanders with its timeline, characters, and plot. The only likable person is 3-year-old Felix. His mother, Lucy, has two kids with Reuben, a married man, who she stays with despite their incomplete relationship.

Even though "Uncle Reuben" has red hair and their daughter Maggie -- almost 12 -- also has red hair, she doesn't suspect that he's her father. Shreve tries to wrap everything up in the end, but fails because we've missed something along the way. Lucy hated her neighbors and then all of a sudden they're her dear friends?

I'll save you the time and share the lessons learned from this book:

1) Secrets are bad

2) Be careful when on a ladder

Come to think of it, I didn't need to read this book to know those things, and I'm guessing, neither do you.

[Harriet · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Shreve's writing. And though this book didn't come together for me, there was a lot to enjoy here. I'd give it 2.5 stars if I could.

I don't want to give away the story, so I'll just say that the plot strands did not come together in a satisfying way. I have the sense that Shreve bit off more than she could chew, and the result feels a bit like a hold all--throw in a little of this and some of that and voila, you've got drama. Only it doesn't work so well for the reader, especially in the second half of the book, where the mysteries begin to be revealed.

My favorite character here is Lucy Painter, the main character. Shreve does a wonderful job of getting inside the head of an idiosyncratic and interesting character.

[Su · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were so many small discrepancies in this book and although they didn't directly affect the story, they drove me crazy. Find an editor! The story itself managed to also rub me the wrong way. As a single mom and her two children move to a suburb of Washington,D.C., I found myself wanting to scream at her to run the other way. These were perhaps written to be normal characters, but if her new neighbors lived on my block, I would move. Plus, the main character Lucy needs to find a backbone, both in dealing with the father of her children and her daughter. He is emotionally distant to her while her daughter is emotionally abusive. Because of a these considerations, I found the conclusion to be too neatly,and improbably, unbelievable.

[Athena · Rating 1 out of 5]

'You Are the Love of My Life' was in a word, bad. I found nothing captivating, except the little boy Felix, he was sweet. Lucy Painter was as other reviewers stated, pathetic. A very weak woman who insists on hanging on to a man who will never leave his wife b/c he too is weak (aka unattractive). I really couldn't keep the neighbor women straight, they all blended into the same person, except, of course, Zee, who by all counts, the story should have been written about. She at least had some depth and dimenstions to her personality. This is the first I've read from this author and I don't find it likely that I will seek out any other works by her.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

What did I like about this novel - not much. Most of the characters were boring. The story takes place during the Watergate trials in a part of Washington DC - thought that would make it interesting, but not much was mentioned about the issues. It was more about neighbors being nozy and butting into the new family's business.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure who was more annoying, Lucy Painter or her "boyfriend" --- I read it a few weeks ago and now I don't even remember what happened, whether she hooked up with the hunky neighbor, nor do I care...I just wanted to finish it. On second thought, I better change my review to 2 stars.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story about secrets and lies, half truths, and sins of omission - a young woman who has a secret past comprising a father who committed suicide for reasons not known to her, and an unknown but present father of her children, married to another woman and with another child. It takes place in a fictional neighborhood of northwest Washington DC, with most details accurate except for the immediate location, a neighborhood of close neighbors, too close and friendly, who have secrets and lies of their own. Some details are annoying because I do know the place and time - there are anachronisms such as going to Chuck E. Cheese (founded in California in 1977; this story takes place in 1973), and it seems unlikely that in 1973 anyone would have had a cappuccino maker, or would have said "No worries". I am also annoyed that it is not perfectly obvious to the children and everyone else who their father is - how many red-headed, curly haired men are there, after all? I also did not really like any of the characters, and was particularly put off by Zee, the neighbor who is over friendly and bossy to boot. All of this is off-putting enough to not be taken up enough into the snarl of lies and secrets, but I think I will be pondering the unclear lines between these for a while.

[Bookread2day · Rating 5 out of 5]

Susan Richard Shreve is the author of fourteen novels and lives in the Washington, DC. As I really enjoyed You Are The Love Of My Life I must read some of the other novels that Susan has published.

I could not put You Are The Love Of My life down. I found it a real page turner , just wanting to know more and more.

The story opens up June 11th 1951 with the Baldwin family doing up their rental home in Wichita Avenue for new tenants will be arriving the following day. When young Lucy goes looking for daddy in the house and finds her daddy has committed suicide.

Lucy's mother changes their name and demands that Lucy must never ever tell anyone her real surname.

Lucy Painter becomes a famous children's book illustrator and ends up having a passionate love affair with Ruben Frank the publisher of George Barnes Books. Ruben is married and his wife has just had a baby and Lucy has two children by Ruben. Lucy really believes that Ruben will leave his wife. Will Ruben leave his wife for Lucy Painter?

All the characters are completely irresistable with an engaging plot to capture you.

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was one strange book. Sort of Wysteria Lane, only in the suburbs of Washington D.C. set during the Watergate Hearings. Single mom, Lucy Painter, moves from New York City with her two children to D.C.to a home she inherited from her parents. Lucy has a lot of baggage, so does the house, and her children, no thanks to Lucy. Enter the neighbors of said D.C. suburb, Wichita Hills, with secrets of their own, deceptions aplenty. Then there is next door neighbor, August who is writing a book. A book about secrets, one about Lucy's father she has spent a lifetime hiding. All come to light by the end of the book, but it is the journey it took to get there that was so tiresome.

[Jodie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm usually never at a loss for words, but I didn't get how the loss of a parent in the way she lost her father, having children with a married man and calling him uncle, allowing your daughter to stay with a neighbor who gives you bad vibes is all that logical in an effort to create a page turner in 2012. Just sayin'. I gave it 2 stars because I actually felt the need to finish it thinking that surely there would be something earth shattering at the end and that didn't happen. So many loose ends.

[Ricki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book to be somewhat strange. The book itself is set in the 70's during Watergate, and I thought I would be able to really relate to the character as we would have been in the same age group...I couldn't ever truly relate to any of the characters the author has written about! While VW vans were used, I don't remember scrunchies or kids bookbags...think those were from a later time frame! There did not seem to be any continuity with the story line. I have read other books by Susan Richards Shreve that were excellent...this one doesn't meet the mark.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the book was well written but slow to engage me. Having said that, I think the fact I was also so frustrated by all the disfunction in the story was testament to the superior characterization by the author. I just felt I was sitting through one long story somebody might tell on a shrink's couch.

[Tracy Palmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book! The characters had me from the get go. You feel for Lucy and sometimes are torn by her choices. Maggie the defiant pre-teen. Zee the colorful neighbor. August and his eccentricities! In the end you feel, even in an imperfect world you can get through tough times.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't actually finish reading this book. It tried. I normally give a book 20 pages to engage me, but because this came recommended, I gave it 40 pages. By 46, when the PoV changes to the busybody neighbors, I became annoyed and decided I was done.

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I "super darn" liked this book, as my 6 year old daughter would say!

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great at capturing "coming of age," but couldn't relate to the main character. Couldn't figure out why she doesn't reveal all secrets by the end. Very repetitive about her art -- didn't get it.

[Marie LaPlante · Rating 2 out of 5]

So dull. The characters are unlikeable and unrelatable. I wish I was the kind of person who could quit a book halfway through, I definitely would have quit this one.

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh.

[Linda Flynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I read a book in 36 hours because I cannot put it down says much about how much I enjoyed it. Shreve has done an excellent job of pulling the reader into the lives of her characters. Having grown up in the mid-50s and on, secrets were so much a part of life. The post war generation didn't want anyone to know anything that wasn't perfect about their family. The Nixon years seems to be the tipping point for that belief in our culture and Shreve uses it for the backdrop of this story. I found the book to be redeeming in that Lucy didn't find her freedom and strength until she threw off the secrets she had been cloaked in for so very long.

This was one of the those books that I hated to see end.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in Washington, D.C. during the Watergate investigation, this is a family drama involving a group of families on the same street. Lucy and her two children are the newcomers and don't quite fit in. Lucy has secrets she doesn't want uncovered. The other women in the neighborhood do as well, just as one of them seems determined to uncover secrets. When Lucy's daughter decides she prefers her neighbor to her mother and takes off with her, things start to unravel as secrets get revealed. This is not the kind of book I usually read, but I really enjoyed it. Lucy is an interesting character and the shaky mother-daughter relationship and her outsider (and untrusting) status in the neighborhood make for slowly revealed twists and turns in the plot. A good read.

[Brooke Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book came into my life accidentally. It was in the $3 clearance bin at Barnes & Noble and I was already buying too many books but it looked alright so I decided to give it a go. I read it in one sitting on a flight from Fort Myers to Newark. I cannot day enough good things about it. The characters were real, endearing, lovable, and infuriating. It was both sweet and sad and the plot was exciting enough to keep the pages turning but ordinary enough to feel relatable. A really strong, multifaceted, GOOD book.

[Jamie Casey · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was just weird. Everything about it is weird. The characters and the way they act, walking into a new person in the neighborhoods house without knocking and making themselves at home? Zee and her secrets although everyone but Lucy in town tell her all of their secrets? Why such a scandal about her dad? I get the times and that gays weren’t welcomed. But they were his choices. Not his daughters. She shouldn’t have had to hang her head in shame. And Uncle what’s his face? Gimme a break.

Nothing about this book that I liked.

[Mairzi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did you ever read an author who writes in a tempo that you just can't quite relate to? That was this book for me. I found myself rereading dialogue and narrative passages because I was sure I missed something. I usually hadn't rather the writing style just was awkward. Compounded by the fact that I didn't find the characters well drawn, this book failed to live up to the promise of the description on the cover.

[Shuriu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't read this if you're having issues with white privilege, unless you have enough patience to endure 95% of this book seeming to reward bad behaviour. The writer doesn't seem to laud white privilege, but if you've just come off a stint of several bad events personally, this is not the book to read. If you're born and raised white: who the hell cares what this says. Read away.

[Catherine Mustread · Rating 4 out of 5]

Family dynamics is the main theme in this story of an unmarried mom and her teenage daughter and preschool-age son, move into the house her parents had abandoned after her father’s suicide years before. Several other families in the neighborhood have their own issues and all of them come to the forefront during this novel set in the 1970s.