A Gorgeous Sense of Hope: A Love Fable

by Emma Magenta

She became a cartographer of the heart.

In A Gorgeous Sense of Hope , a girl finds herself in possession of "a relationship of considerable consequence" that slowly loses its spark. Determined to save her love, she sets out on a love expedition, where she learns that the road to love can be rocky and full of twists and turns, but if we have the courage to stick with it, or perhaps even to forge our own path, it might just lead us to exhilarating heights and astonishing synchronicity in love.

Through all the seasons of the heart, this beautifully illustrated book candidly relates the "exquisite bubble" of new love, followed by the perils of "the insidious zone of complacency" where the shower of passion dries up and silence ensues. Finally, the girl realizes that the only guarantee of keeping the love she wants is to create the map for it herself.

A Gorgeous Sense of Hope is a quirky and profound keepsake for new, promising relationships, for tired, troubled relationships, and for anyone who appreciates the fragility of love. It's for everyone who has been in love and those who might be, someday. After all, couldn't everyone use a gorgeous sense of hope?

Genres: Fiction

96 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2006

About the author

Emma Magenta is the illustrator of actress (and fellow Australian) Toni Collette’s picture book, PLANET YAWN. She is also the author-illustrator of three picture books for adults. ORLANDO ON A THURSDAY was inspired by the daily happenings with her two greatest loves: Orlando, her gorgeous son, and her beloved husband, Arturo Aguirre, with whom she lives in Sydney, Australia.

Reviews

[Alyse · Rating 5 out of 5]

She became a cartographer of the heart.

[matisse ✧*･ﾟ · Rating 5 out of 5]

“She became a cartographer of the heart” 🙂🙂

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely quirky tale of love and relationships with an enlightened ending. Loved the sweet illustrations and funnily enough my favorite part of the book was the back cover author blurb;

"Emma Magenta won a drawing competition at the age of nine and based on this accomplishment alone she has been calling herself an artist since.

She also wrote her first poem about an autumn leaf the same year and put it to music...thankfully no one heard it.

Even though she has a deep love of humans, in a utopian world she would live in the wild."

[Margaux Laskey · Rating 4 out of 5]

another excellent one by emma magenta. lovely, twisted little illustrations, and teeny tiny profound statements. i keep it by my bed.

[Sean Harding · Rating 3 out of 5]

Firstly it is a terrible title, no title should ever have the word gorgeous in it, apart from anything else it just sounds camp.
Secondly it has a fairly profound description of what it is about and I just think it missed the profundity by, well, some way.
Finally, well it was ok, I mean it wasn't bad, but not that memorable.

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a journey through the heart, through a love life and love of life.
Lashings of beautiful words and pictures, like jam with cream, leave the reader with a tender satisfaction. Little gems of words and pictures pop up on each page, including a charm of goldfinches and a cathedral of owls.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whimsical and wacky, the story and its messages are conveyed in a light manner through its quirky illustrations and writing. A nice change of pace from the usual books out there.

[Jin Tran · Rating 5 out of 5]

i think about this book often-- short but sweet, beautiful parable of romantic relationships with the most captivating first line: "she became a cartographer of the heart".

[Alexis Contessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly gorgeous book that delicately intwines pathetic fallacy to demonstrate the highs and lows of love over the seasons!!

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know, I have a hard time with triumphant books about lessons on life and love and blah blah blah, but this book is awesome. The illustrations really make it. It would be great to be better at drawing, huh? Yeah, I should work on that. If I were to get a tattoo, I would seriously consider Emma Magenta's illustration of an old man doing the moonwalk as potential source material.

[Millicent · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Gorgeous Sense of Hope is yet another wonderful work by Emma Magenta. Using her simplistically styled illustrations, Magenta takes us through a story about love, it's troubles, and finding what it takes to overcome these hurdles.

It's definitely a cute little read to have sitting handy on the bookcase for if you ever need a pick-me-up.

[Nadia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Literalmente "it was okay".

A un libro así se me hace muy raro/díficil darle un rating. Pensé que la historia me iba a gustar/sorprender más, pero no.

Sí me gustaron las ilustraciones.

"She realized the only guarantee of having the love she wanted was to create the map for it herself."

[Tamra · Rating 5 out of 5]

spectacular and unique as is everything by emma magenta.

[Logan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is less than 100 lines long yet it sincerely and poetically says so much. Whimsical and beautifully illustrated.

[Heather Robertson]

What a lovely little book!

[ah li · Rating 4 out of 5]

short yet very sweet.