Harry and Catherine: A Love Story

by Frederick Busch

"For years Frederick Busch has been at work on one of the most impressive bodies of American fiction."―Reynolds Price Here is that rarest and most satisfying of books: a grown-up love story. Harry and Catherine have been falling in and out of love for many years. She is divorced, determinedly raising two sons, and running a small gallery in upstate New York. He is an ex-newspaperman, a wistful drifter, now assistant to a New York senator. After a long separation, Harry is assigned to find out whether a new shopping mall in Catherine's neighborhood will desecrate an historic black cemetery. Catherine is living with another man, a contractor for the mall who finds both his financial interests and his relationship with Catherine threatened by Harry. With penetrating acuity and generosity of spirit, one of our finest writers brings us what David Bradley calls "a book people will love and be proud of loving." "Unsuppressed emotion, painful honesty . . . all of it in the most lively and supple language anyone is writing today."―Rosellen Brown

Genres: Fiction

306 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Frederick Busch (1941–2006) was the recipient of many honors, including an American Academy of Arts and Letters Fiction Award, a National Jewish Book Award, and the PEN/Malamud Award. The prolific author of sixteen novels and six collections of short stories, Busch is renowned for his writing’s emotional nuance and minimal, plainspoken style. A native of Brooklyn, New York, he lived most of his life in upstate New York, where he worked for forty years as a professor at Colgate University.

Reviews

[JJ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ack. I could hardly finish it. Story dragged. Lots of drama filled characters with a plot I didn't engage with. Glad it's over.

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I stuck with this book, enjoying the writing and at times the story, but had to force myself to finish it. Then. The ending. What? I had to read the book club discussion questions to be sure I had inferred the right thing. And realized that after 300+ pages I loved her dog but didn't understand her at all.

[Book Club Mom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, unusual characters

Some books can stand the test of time, but Harry and Catherine, published in 1990, has a dated feel about it and that made the story less believable from a 2013 point of view.

Harry, Catherine and Carter, members of this grown-up love triangle, are only in their early forties, hardly old by today’s standards.

I found it difficult to like Catherine, who was busy trying to show how she could handle the cold upstate NY winters on her own. And something prevented me from understanding what kind of great love Harry and Catherine shared in the past. It was hard to get to know these characters. I thought Carter’s character was the most believable and cheered for him.

The conflict of commercial development versus keeping our countryside beautiful, with the additional plot of the black cemetery being unearthed and moved seemed contrived, or maybe that overlay too, was just dated.

But in the end, I thought the final chapters were the best and I enjoyed the references to upstate NY. Likewise, the garden discussions and cooking references made me want to go out into my own garden and pull together a good meal.

[Sara Figueroa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not very good at writing reviews so forgive me if this is less than helpful.

I very much enjoyed Harry and Catherine. There were some lovely passages describing the way things sounded and looked. There was a passage about the sound Catherine's dog makes coming downstairs which was lovely. I also loved how Busch writes about Catherine's relationship with her children and her strength, how formidable she seems to others.

For me the plot that centered around Harry's upstate investigations became very central to the books pacing and I felt myself flipping pages to know what was going to happen, rather than sitting with the characters journey toward's each other and the subtleties of their love story. I think that might be more of my impatience than the author's lack.

Having been published in 1990, the way he describes New York City makes me nostalgic for a New York that no longer exits and the central "plot" pivot about land development and local politics in upstate New York also speak of places I have visited and some that no longer exist.

[Jacqueline · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not sure why I ever started reading this book, maybe I came across an excerpt or something that tricked me into thinking it would be interesting enough to read. Just couldn't seem to care enough about the characters. I started it 2 years ago and still haven't finished so I finally decided to return it to the shelf. Every once in a blue moon I might recall that I was reading it and wonder whatever happened but I don't care enough to find out.

[Randine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am on a Frederick Busch kick lately. I like this one enough - it's not as 'lonely' as some of his other books like 'North' and 'Girls'. The most interesting aspect of this one is the triangle relationship - i think seeing how men act with each other when a common woman is involved is extremely intriguing.

[Brian S · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book can be likened to the experience of snagging a diseased fish and hauling it onto shore and watching is wallow about. There is some initial promise when you first hook the fish, before you know it is diseased, but then disappointment as it flounders there with nothing more to offer as this book did for the last 200 pages.

[David Jordan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A love triangle plays out in upstate New York as a congressional staffer competes with a paving contractor for the affections of an independent-minded divorcee and her two sons. Sensitive (to an extreme) and laden with precise physical detail, but too touchy-feely and elliptical for my taste.

[Luceefish · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I have no idea why now, but I read it my senior year of high school and it's stuck in my head ever since.