Wednesday, October 3, 2012

The News from Spain: 7 Variations on a Love Story-Joan Wickersham’

The News from Spain: 7 Variations on a Love Story


Joan Wickersham’

Knopf, Oct 9 2012, $24.95

ISBN: 9780307958884



This superb collection focuses on “7 Variations on a Love Story” with differing “News from Spain.” Each entry enables the reader to look deep into the souls of the protagonists while showcasing the various types of relationship love. She sits on the beach with her friend knowing when her marriage died while he considers marrying a companion. The daughter visits her mom at the nursing home because she feels this is the right thing to do, but soon realizes she wants to see her mom. The only female student at the school, she feels alone except for her married Spanish teacher. The biographer interviews the race car driver‘s widow, but is the author’s wife who shocks the elderly woman. Married but in love with someone else, she tells her beloved the tale of a doctor in WWII in love with two famous women. The choreographer and his polio stricken wife the ballerina have accepted his cheating and her relationship with her gay caregiver. The Countess (from The Marriage of Figaro), Elvira (from Don Giovanni) and the author are tied together forever. The premise works nicely with the tales based on real persona the best of a strong compilation on love in its variations.



Harriet Klausner

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