A lovely book to keep. A wonderful story about how we are affected, how our lives are formed by those we love. This is about what is important in life. This book will be staying on my shelf for awhile. I found the premise intriging, although I suspected the "loves" to be all romantic. It is certainly possible to feel romantic love for seven seperate people over a lifetime, especially if one does not marry early, or not at all.
However, each chapter described a different sort of love, which is realistically, how we experience life. Each, though totally different in
nature, was profound in it's own right. The auther expresses this beautifully, in lyrical words that are pure pleasure to read, and reread! There were times I read a sentence over several times to experience it with the same feeling I thought the author intended. One does not need to lead an especially loud or experientially frantic life to glean the sweetness from each encounter. I came to realize through her prose how very profoundly we affect each others lives. Every encounter holds the promise of something important if we choose to be observant. I know I will approach with additional reverence, the people my path may cross daily. I feel profoundly changed by this story, and will look more carefully in my life for the depth in my own "loves." ( )

Eh. I felt as though I was lost through most of this book, focusing on the dialogues between people in close relationships (lovers, husbands, sons, caretakers, mothers). However, there were moments within these pages where I fully connected to the characters, and I could not put the book down.

These moments of clarity, while certainly enjoyed and admired, were too few and far between, though. Trueblood has a way with snippets in time, and in describing communication links. Unfortunately, I didn't feel connected enough with any character (even the primary) to be able to make this book worthy of much more of a compliment than "Eh, worth a dollar or two." ( )

I never felt like I could understand what was going on with these relationships of hers. Like walking into a party where I didn’t know anyone and they all have their inside jokes and common experiences, and they don’t feel it’s necessary to let me in on them. So I can get a feel for them, but never fully feel a part of. That’s how I felt reading the book.

(Full review at my blog) ( )

This quiet novel follows the story of 74-year-old May Nilsson, a retired English teacher and widow, who finds herself reminiscing on a past defined by love. May remembers the difficult and pleasurable years of her marriage to a doctor as well as the excitement and pain of an extramarital affair. She reflects on a young coworker's elementary nature, her son's capriciousness, and her mother's political convictions. Each chapter presents an impressionistic view of May's family, friends, and lovers and their varying degrees of longing and happiness. Gently told, this novel is poetic, contemplative, and tender--a bit like a tone poem. ( )