This Is a Love Story

by Jessica Soffer

This Is a Love Story The instant New York Times bestseller ABISBOOK Serpents Tail.

Genres: Romance, Fiction

320 pages, Paperback

Published January 27, 2026

About the author

Jessica Soffer is the author of This Is a Love Story and Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots. She grew up in New York City and earned her MFA at Hunter College where she was a Hertog Fellow. Her work has appeared in Granta, The New York Times, Real Simple, Saveur, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue, and on NPR’s Selected Shorts. She teaches creative writing to small groups and in the corporate space and lives in Sag Harbor, New York, with her family.

Reviews

[Catherine Deslandres · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sad book about love told from three point of views with Central Park in the background. All the connections, regrets, joy and love encountered through life , art and cancer. “For those who know, for those who feel it, the Park is more than just a park. It is evocative, a symbol.It reminds them of something else, someone else” “ You were I was.We have always just been water,slipping through holes”.

[Kine Austerslått · Rating 2 out of 5]

e elska jo alt som har med nyc å gjøre og det va derfor e kjøpte dinna boka! men e lot me dessverre ikke fenge heilt av historia, e syns den va tynn og e blei ikke glad i karakterane, og den va bare veldig forutsigbar

e syns skildringene og historiene i central park va det beste, for dem føltes autentiske og tok me tilbake til favorittbyen min <333

[Pam Berg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved everything about this book! I couldn’t put it down!

[Heidi Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like I’ve just gotten off a plane ride that was both smoothe sailing, all rainbows and sunshine, high on life one minute and turbulent the next to the point you feel like you’re about to crash into a mountain. I had to catch my breath after reading the last page and process it from beginning to end. It’s like condensing entire lives into a 10 hour read (or however long it took.) It’s written in a style that is so fast paced, I would swear the author was manic when she wrote it, the intense energy, making me myself read it at a fast pace, which in itself is exhausting! From the first time Abe and Jane meet, until the very end, every human emotion is woven into the story.
It takes place in New York city, specifically Central Park as its main backdrop.
Two incredibly talented and ultimately successful artists, Abe and Jane, one literary and one in creative art itself, live their lives so entwined with each other that their love feels impenetrable, no room for anyone else. But then life happens, as it does, but doesn’t need to, and yet… (that last sentence is an example of the style of writing the author portrays.)
The most depressing part of this book is the in-depth account of her postpartum depression. It is raw, brutal, no good things to say about it except that she had a savior in her mother-in-law.
You go away feeling as if you’ve gone through it too, totally depleted and exhausted, leaving you to feel as Jane does, the only task at hand being to take the next breath. (*I find it very ironic with everything about PP depression going on in the media that this subject is front and center in the book I happened to choose.) Anyway, I had to stop after that part of the book because it is so draining, a feeling of never-ending hopelessness, passed on from author to reader. It definitely seems written as a firsthand account. I don’t know how anyone could tap into that level of despair that is portrayed if not having been through it themselves, or only imagining, or both, and yet?…
The effect it has on her relationships, especially with her son, Max, throughout his life, and how her own life changes is a dichotomy between before motherhood and after. However, there is one constant, that is her yearning and wanting of her mother, who died when she was 12. She desperately needs her mother to be there, and to be, and yet…
She wants her mother’s wisdom and calm
essence to be alive in herself. Her mother is the only one, in her mind, who could make everything right. She thinks of her mother as the ultimate mother and herself as the opposite, which is arguably true. I think her life would be very different, in a good way, if her mother had not died.
An interesting thing is that it is told from the perspective of of husband in one chapter or in consecutive chapters,
the wife and reluctant mother in others, the adult son, Max, whose childhood, specifically the mothering he received or lack there of, you come to understand has affected every aspect of his life (as is the case of most people. Jane and Max’s mother/son relationship is so incredibly complex, but they accept it and don’t try to change it as if it could ever change despite the wanting, or maybe, and yet…
Then there’s a surprise narrator telling her story, who plays a vital part in their lives.
The most interesting perspective and narration comes from Central Park itself as it observes the lives of Jane and Abe and of all who step inside its space. Seeing humanity from a point of view as if looking down, capable of taking it in all at once. Central Park is indifferent to all that is happening, merely an observer.
This book is somewhat difficult to understand yet brilliant to those who do.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Abe and Jane spend fifty years circling each other and their careers; her art and his writing in New York City, with Central Park playing a bigger part then their own child and quietly witnessing the rise of their careers and the strain on their family. this couple because their so self absorbed in their own ambitions, their child seems invisible.
revealing a love story that is, flawed, and ultimately more about the lives they built then the family.
I would venture to say they would have had a beautiful marriage minus Max. Maybe then there wouldn’t have been natural betrayal, child isolation, and illness.

[T. Rash · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author does a great job of using imagery to set the scene of the story. This is one of my least favorites, because I'd rather focus on the emotions and actions than the background. Much of the story is told as memories, which is interesting for a while. But like real memories they are not always in order and are often short bursts of information. They also often begin with "I remember." I found this repetitive and unnecessary.

Although the writing style is not for me, the plot is interesting. It deals well with showing how the acts of one person affect others. It also handles postpartum depression and dealing with death

[AJ Cruz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the thing that really held this book back for me was the prose.

The concept of the book is good, but I think it fell short on the execution. It felt like it was “trying” to be something special… instead of just being special.

I can appreciate the attempt at writing in a unique style, while acknowledging that THAT is the very thing I think holding this book back.

The characters also just weren’t very memorable. I found it difficult to pick the book back up because I could barely remember who I read about or what even happened.

I may make a second attempt at this book down the line, it’s very likely I just didn’t read this at the right time.

[Stephanie Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite part of this book was the love story to Central Park. I found the love story between the two main characters to be annoying. I did not enjoy the sections of the book written in the “You remember” format. It was irritating. It wasn’t the content per se but the literary feature that bothered me. And I found the love story between mother and son to be heartbreaking. So many missed opportunities. It made me think but can’t say I loved it.

[Jerry Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh, what could have been.

The idea is innovative, essentially a book of memories. It made me nostalgic and I loved the "Park's memories". But the "Alice" section went on far too long and hurt the story and Max? Well, he's a despicable (and unnecessary) figure and essentially ruined the book for me.

[Hope Sherman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was outstanding… written in a “look back” style; a long term couple reflecting upon the ups and downs of their life. There are chapters that are written in “current time” of what is happening, then whole sections in a one of the couple’s voices. Clever, beautiful, happy, sad, dreamy, real, all the feels.

[Jessica O'Keefe · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good story, but I didn't really like the format it was written in.

[Jenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish I was the kind of person who could put a book on a DNF list.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just not my preference on point of view to tell the story. Kinda felt all over. Took a bit to figure out who was even talking…
It does though help show the difference of views in the same moment.

[Pamela S · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn’t finish it, didn’t care for the format at all.

[Angel]

This is not a love story, it’s awful. The main character is so selfish and when it comes to being a mother, she’s worse than selfish. Would not recommend. No stars.

[Emily Guth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love this but the best I can give it is a like. The writing style was very confusing. The only chapters I liked were the ones narrated by Central Park. Go figure.

[Margaret Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet little read especially since I was visiting Central Park in NYC!

[Gretchen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not I expected. I guess a love letter to Central Park- I have never been. I did not like any of the characters and felt no sympathy for them. I did not enjoy this book

[Ryan Hanley · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was sweet but honestly nothing that really grabbed me into the story. I also don’t really have any character I liked and their individual stories were just kind of thrown in.

[Natalie Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a sucker for stories with emotional connections. I enjoyed this fictional story of a family learning to live with their choices, afraid of opening up completely and how much they love others.

[Angi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was not prepared for this book. Got it on a whim and was blown away.

[Sarah]

I did not know if the stream of consciousness style was eventually going to change but I didn't really have the patience and concentration to find out.

[Kim Maxwell · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful - the only redeemable character was Central Park

[Amy Siniscalchi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. Could not read this book. The writing style is so annoying.