I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Love May Fail by Matthew Quick Published by Harper on June 16, 2015
Pages: 416
Format: ARC
Source: the publisher
Portia Kane has had enough of her husband's cheating. Married to a sex-addict pornographer, she knows she deserves more. Sure, the wealthy lifestyle is nice, but her character and self-worth are more important. She returns to her childhood home in New Jersey. There, she finds little has changed: Her mother is still a hoarder, yet Portia's childhood room remains untouched, a snapshot of her life, capturing one of the most rewarding times of her life. She reflects fondly on her favorite high school teacher, Mr. Vernon, who always encouraged his students to look at the brighter, more hopeful side of life.
When she learns her beloved Mr. Vernon was attacked by one of his students, resulting in an early retirement, Portia becomes obsessed with saving him. He once awakened a brightness in the lives of his students; it's time they did the same for him.
Aided by a nun she meets on a plane and another of Mr. Vernon's students (a recovering heroin addict), Portia launches on a mission to bring hope and meaning back in to the life of her former teacher and, at the same time, renew her faith in the world around her.
What a motley slate of characters Quick creates! Both humorous and also heartbreaking, Quick uses these extremely flawed and damaged characters, all connected by one high school teacher, to provide a wholly rewarding and meaningful novel about love, loss, and second chances. Each character is genuine, believable, individuals readers will connect with and root for. The difficulties each of the characters experience is not at all sugar-coated. Instead, Quick calls them as he sees them. He doesn’t opt to create a novel full of rainbows and unicorns, instead giving readers a plot and characters that are so dark and desperate, it’s not difficult to embrace them as genuine.
Yet one of the most compelling parts of this novel is the author’s ability to weave in faith, yet not in an overly religious way. It is faith of one’s choosing, faith in what each individual character held dear.
Don’t let this lead you to believe this to be a heavy, depressing novel, for it is actually quite the opposite. Mixing dark humor with uplifting journeys of change and rediscovery, Quick has crafted a genuinely engrossing novel perfect for summer reading. Highly, highly recommended.
Thank you to TLC for the opportunity to take part in this tour. Please check out the official tour page for other stops on the tour!
About Matthew Quick
Matthew Quick (aka Q) is the New York Times bestselling author of several novels, including The Silver Linings Playbook, which was made into an Oscar-winning film, and The Good Luck of Right Now. His work has been translated into thirty languages and has received a PEN/Hemingway Award Honorable Mention. Q lives with his wife, the novelist-pianist Alicia Bessette, on North Carolina’s Outer Banks.
Find out more about Matthew at his website, follow him on Twitter, and connect with him on Facebook.
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