Now You Love Me

Each year, for the pest 4 decades, I've bought books for my children at Christmas time. The kids/adults sign up for the "next reading" of the book & theses gifts are passed around. I'm finally reading this book, having given it to my daughter who passed it along to her siblings. Engaging story!

What a lovely little novel this is. I enjoyed every page, the author describes in detail so sweetly a quirky and loving family which could be her family or it could be yours. I have also read another of her books "The Widower" a story in which you will fall in love with every character !! I look forward to her next book !!!

If you have brothers or sisters, you know the feeling Litzenburger portrays so well in Now You Love Me--the sense of argument and bond all jumbled in that crazy tension known as growing up. Combine that with a single mother struggling to ground her identity and sense of family according to her own terms, and you get a mixture that makes good fiction. Annie, the narrator, is nine years old and consistently conveys the kind of innocence and honesty one can appreciate.

By the end of this unforgettable book, I adored this wacky family: the little girl, her brother, her offbeat mother, and her hapless suitor. The author has created a warm and hilarious portrait of, among other things, the rural single mom dating scene in northern Michigan. What I loved most was the little girl narrator's voice: it's so true, so insightful, and so winning. Litzenburger has perfect pitch for her voice. Anybody who has lived through a parent's odd behavior will identify totally. But this is also a very romantic book in which, in the end, love wins through. The whole package would make a great indie movie--it has got that kind of a feel.

While I have not read the entire novel (it is not due out until March) I have read three excerpts which have appeared in various literary magazines. The writing is crisp, lyrical, poignant and, above all, funny. Ms. Litzenberger has a unique world view which manages to be telling, wry and compassionate all at once. She has, almost single handedly, revived my faith in contemporary American writing. I will be first in line to buy the book when it comes out.