This coming of age, literary fiction novel, follows Leopold (Leo) Gursky, a writer and Holocaust survivor, and Alma Singer, a fourteen-year old girl who is searching for the author who wrote “The History of Love,” which contains a character she is named after, in hopes that he will be the solution to her mother’s loneliness.
Although the book is extremely character driven due to it being literary fiction, it reads very much like a mystery or thriller as there are many plot holes in both of the characters’ timelines that need to be filled in and rearranged. In the end, after a few twists, everything comes together very satisfyingly.
Additionally, several of the secondary characters provide a lot of emotional intrigue as well as humor. This is something I always enjoy in literature, but rarely see except in fantasy novels. Bruno was my favorite character. Although he is suicidal, Bruno happens to be the most humorous and warm character in the novel, constantly offering his support and friendship to Leo, even when Leo isn’t always a good friend in return.
The novel was adapted into a film directed by Radu Mihăileanu in 2016, starring Derek Jacobi (Tomb Raider) and Sophie Nélisse (who stars in one of my favorite book to movie adaptations of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak).
Photo Credit: 2.4.7 Films
“Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering” – Nicole Krauss, “The History of Love”
Macey Heys, Managing Editor
(Featured Image by W.W. Norton & Company)