Love Walked in

I love DeSantos' book Belong to Me but this one which takes place before Belong to Me (and this fact isn't mentioned anywhere so I was surprised) just didn't interest me as much even though it features many of the same characters. The story didn't draw me in and I only kept reading because I knew the characters from Belong to Me.

I knew before I even started reading this book that it had already been picked up as a movie starring Sarah Jessica Parker. She will be absolutely perfect as the main character, Cornelia. I just hope that they start shooting soon, because there's absolutely no one better than Dakota Fanning to play 11-year-old Claire (if they wait too long, she will be too old to play the part!) I just can't imagine any other young actor mature enough to play this role (convincingly). I also think that Robin Wright Penn would be the perfect Vivienne - with just enough edginess & confidence to pull this character off, without losing the vulnerability that is necessary for the role of Claire's mom. Robin just sprang to mind as I read the pages featuring Vivienne & I can't think of anyone who could do a better job! Now that I've stated who I think would make the perfect stars of the film, let me give you my opinion of the book! The chapters are alternately told by Claire and Cornelia, a style used quite often in novels, which can grow tiresome and/or confusing after a while. It works wonderfully for this book though. Claire & Cornelia are similar characters with age-appropriate crises. Cornelia is looking for a handsome Prince Charming to sweep her off her feet. She sees herself as a romantic heroine straight out of the movies from the 30s and 40s, which she just can't seem to watch enough and recommends to everyone she knows. She's looking for her own Cary Grant and believes she's found him in Martin. Claire sees herself and identifies with the orphans of classic novels, such as Anne of Green Gables, A Little Princess, The Secret Garden and Heidi, and finds herself in similar predicaments. Both characters fantasize and dream of finding their "Happily Ever After" just like their favorite heroines of the films and books they both cherish so much, but they never loose their grip on reality and always seem to find themselves with their feet firmly planted on the ground. Scared and alone, each in their own way, Claire and Cornelia are drawn together finding the strength and love that both are looking and yearning for. Just when they start to believe that their lives just couldn't get any better, life throws them several "curve balls" testing the love, strength, courage and trust they've come to depend on from one another and those close to them. Such a moving story that will tug at all the right heartstrings, the characters are written with such feeling & emotion that you can't help but fall in love with Claire & Cornelia and their close circle of family and friends. Even the "underdog" character of Vivienne is written so perfectly that no matter how wrong you think she may have been, you'll find a place in your heart for her too. Readers will want to jump right into the pages and put themselves right in the middle of this story, and befriend these characters and share their hopes & dreams. I really enjoyed this book and can't wait

I don't know what makes a love story feel right. Not many of them do. But this one feels as right as breathing. It's funny and peculiar and brave. And it's written in language so musical and metaphorical, the author could've been a poet. As, according to her biography, she is. In the book, Cornelia Brown, the main character, asks: "What breaks your heart? Has your heart been broken? Tell me. When has your heart been broken?" She asks twice. The first time, she asks her lover. When she repeats the questions, though, it's as if she's asking the reader. This flourish is how the author signals that, for all her shortcomings, Cornelia is growing bolder. She's realized that before you can love anybody truly, your heart has to be broken, and you have to own that memory completely. What made "Love Walked In" different, though, wasn't just the writing. It was the love story between Cornelia and Clare. Cornelia is 31 and she's pretty aimless, although nobody seems to mind, because she's so witty and hilarious. She manages a trendy coffee shop in Philadelphia and has smart, interesting friends, and she's really amusing when she's around them (and a little mean, which always helps the humor). But she's not very courageous, even though she wants to be. And she's lonely. Clare, the other main character, is 11, and she's incredibly courageous, but what's happening to her is so terrifying, it's hard to tell if she'll make it. Her father is out of the picture, and her mother is suffering a manic break. So Clare is worse than on her own--she's on her own and singlehandedly trying to keep her whole world from deteriorating, literally, into madness. And she's failing. It's hard to see how anybody could help Clare out of her trouble, much less directionless Cornelia. But that's where the love of "Love Walked In" comes in. When Cornelia and Clare find each other, their love for one another transforms them. They become brave, remarkable characters who will linger in memory for a long, long, time.

As a writer, reader, lover of all things literary AND popular, I've waited a long, long, long time for a novel like this one. Cornelia and Clare and their intersecting narratives manage to blend the quick wit and charm of the classic movies Cornelia loves with the heartbreak and family dysfunction of our very real times. And Cornelia is someone I want to know, someone I do know, someone who reminds me a bit of myself and of every other smart woman who loves a great book AND a great pair of shoes, who understands that love is the most important thing, but that laughing helps, as does a room with an excellent view and a place to come home to that truly feels like home. This is the best book for our generation. I loved it. Read it and you'll love it too.

i took this book on a girls weekend and had the distinct sensation that there was one more friend in the mix. cornelia's voice and thoughts permeated my whole trip and in the end enhanced it 100%. while cornelia's early chapters had me laughing out loud on the plane ride there; clare's predicament reduced me to tears on the flight back. it is a great read and a real testament to an emerging literary talent.

There are a few books in my collection that I finished, gave away to a friend, then bought again. I gave them away because they were too beautiful and rich not to be shared, but I acquired them again because I knew that I would want to go back and reread the best parts and because my shelf seemed incomplete without them. "Love Walked In" is that kind of book; I relished every page and continued to think about the characters and the story long after I'd put it down. Cornelia, Clare, Teo and the rest of the cast quickly drew me in... like the best movie stars, they're warm, witty and charming enough to make you fall in love, but with enough quirkiness and substance to make them accessible and real. The glue that holds it all together is the author's extraordinary prose- her writing reads effortlessly, but on closer examination is far richer than it has any right to be, full of keen observation and unexpected metaphor. "Love Walked In" is an amazing, warm, and wonderful book- I highly recommend it.