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What About the Love Part?
Infused with gleaming insight and exceptional grace, here is an affecting debut of ten loosely linked stories that speak volumes of truth about mothers and daughters, girlfriends, and the weird propensity of smart women to choose lousy boyfriends. What About the Love Part? charts the life of a woman named Abby through her challenges in dating, marriage, motherhood, divorce, friendship, and all the shadings in between. Stephanie Rosenfeld offers a delightful glimpse into a world that instantly looks familiar and invites us to feel at home.
In “Grasp Special Comb,” Abby, soon-to-be-divorced, is battling that elementary school head lice. While there are plenty of guides on how to deal with the vermin attacking her daughter, nothing warns about the effect it will have on her ability to deal with life’s other infestations. “Good for the Frog” and “To Sarah, Wherever You Are” are tributes to a childhood friend who helped Abby survive dating hell. From the boyfriend whose lovemaking spurs her to think “I could’ve gone to the gym” to the guy who tells her “I’m a hunter, and you’re the hunted,” Sarah’s support and insight into why Abby is drawn to such inappropriate men steers her back on track. In “Insects in Amber,” Abby wanders through a museum with her daughter, struck by all the ancient remains of animals in glass cases. Reminded of when she was a child and felt compelled to save everything, she wonders why she could never save relationships, save love this way.
Evocative, magnetic, and real, What About the Love Part? speaks to every woman’s search for a life rich in meaning, passion, and tenderness. Stephanie Rosenfeld captures it all with piercing clarity and a heartening wit.
From the Hardcover edition.
In “Grasp Special Comb,” Abby, soon-to-be-divorced, is battling that elementary school head lice. While there are plenty of guides on how to deal with the vermin attacking her daughter, nothing warns about the effect it will have on her ability to deal with life’s other infestations. “Good for the Frog” and “To Sarah, Wherever You Are” are tributes to a childhood friend who helped Abby survive dating hell. From the boyfriend whose lovemaking spurs her to think “I could’ve gone to the gym” to the guy who tells her “I’m a hunter, and you’re the hunted,” Sarah’s support and insight into why Abby is drawn to such inappropriate men steers her back on track. In “Insects in Amber,” Abby wanders through a museum with her daughter, struck by all the ancient remains of animals in glass cases. Reminded of when she was a child and felt compelled to save everything, she wonders why she could never save relationships, save love this way.
Evocative, magnetic, and real, What About the Love Part? speaks to every woman’s search for a life rich in meaning, passion, and tenderness. Stephanie Rosenfeld captures it all with piercing clarity and a heartening wit.
From the Hardcover edition.
256 pages, Paperback
First published May 28, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 13, 2021
Connected stories about the deep loneliness of seeking love after children, divorce, and moving away from friends and family. An outdoorsy guy seems to promise reconnection to a carefree pre-adulting life, but he turns out to be as awful as you'd expect. Utah locations include river trips on Gates of Lodore and the San Juan, as well as a suffocating temperature inversion in SLC.
March 13, 2008
I think I either don't like short stories or don't like books where I'm supposed to see the metaphor and figure out what it means. So, if you like either or both of those things than you might like this book.
But, I had a hard time figuring out who was 'talking' in most of these stories and failed to get any meaning from them.
But, I had a hard time figuring out who was 'talking' in most of these stories and failed to get any meaning from them.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews