The Idea of Love

The Idea of Love is about two couples living in France and the various mental, emotional, and marital breakdowns they have as they all struggle with discovering the the meanings of life and love. In short, it's a novel about four people's mid-life crises -- there are no heroes in this tale. Though this could easily be a tedious and trite story in the hands of a less deft author, Louise Dean avoids pitfalls and makes something beautiful. In particular, her word play and attention to detail make the book pop where it could have been lackluster. The Idea of Love is like reading a Merchant Ivory film; it's good, but it's slow. The story itself is told in over sixty chapters and from four points of view, though. The plot is a little slow, but the narrator changes often enough to keep the story from bogging down. Ultimately, The Idea of Love is a beautifully written story, filled with characters that the reader will simultaneously love and love to loathe.

Ex-pats in Provence, not what you might think it would be. Richard, who is sent to Africa to sell mental health meds, could most likely use some himself. His life has turned from an exciting tryst with a French woman, to a toxic marriage fully equipped with peculiar in-laws, a possibly mentally challenges son and enough one night stands to fill a book... and that's just the beggining. He gives up so much of himself to unsuccessfully make his wife happy and he just seems to fall into the cycle of a souless life. Well written and thoughtful, this novel is grim and stark. The author creeps into the unhappy lives of people desperate for what they cannot attain... love. This is certainly not the romanticized tromps through the countryside of France like Peter Mayle, but equally entertaining, in a dark, sad way.

Louise Dean's the idea of Love is opens in modern day Provence, France and is first told through the eyes of Richard, a pharmaceutical salesman about to launch antidepressants in Africa. Envisioning one hundred percent market share and possibly depressed himself, he sets off to sell sadness. While Richard pursues profits and one night stands, he leaves his beautiful but distant wife Valere at home to care for their son, Max. Valere and Max's neighbor Rachel also takes to Africa where she is determined to do some good, and ends up alienating her philandering husband, Jeff. Rachel and Richard's combined efforts in Africa begin to dismantle their precarious marriages and lifestyles. I was expecting a rather sad tale about infidelity in marriage, but instead this novel turned out to be a shockingly edgy look at the constant struggles we all face: living with consequences, the failure to capture the elusiveness of happiness, and the very idea of love (get it)? This novel is reminiscent of Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible, but Dean writes with a uniquely focused clarity. The Idea of Love is a triumph producing characters that do not in any way feel contrived. One inhabits these four people as they unravel with the the grace, precision and pace of an unraveling sweater.