Kinds of Love

Charming and poignant story about an elderly couple, Cornelius and Christina Chapman, who have spent many "summer vacations" in the small town of Willard, New Hampshire, who now decide to stay full-time. Christina becomes close friends with a local woman, Ellen, and much of the novel is about their developing friendship (it's a rocky relationship, much like the terrain in which the book is set). Interspaced with the developing story are journal entries kept by Christina in which she steps back and evaluates situations occurring with Ellen, her husband, her family, and the world of Willard. Sarton is an excellent nature writer and her descriptions of rural Willard throughout the different seasons are excellent. Christina feels at the end of the book that by living permanently in Willard "I am close to my real feeling now," and that she and Cornelius have come into their own. A very appealing and uplifting story.