10,000 Promises, a review from Midwest Book Review
"...McCoy is a master at creating romances that sparkle with passion as well as disappointment."--Diane Donovan, eBook Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
Marriage between a man and a woman typically translates to very different perceptions of how life will be shared: at least, it certainly is that way for Erica, who thinks her marriage to the older, wiser Mitch will lead to a passionate and lazy life.
How she could think that the quiet, intellectual Mitch will give her zestful love and an rich life is a puzzle; but when the inevitable disappointment happens, Erica is prompted to take a young lover - and when she does, life becomes even more riddled with questions, challenges, and conflict.
Billy McCoy is a master at creating romances that sparkle with passion as well as disappointment. The foundation premise is stated early on as Erica engages in an intellectual debate: "I think," said Erica, playing with the scarf she had taken off, "I think there so many kinds of love." and it's one that remains supported by events that play out from her decisions based on this ideal.
Another premise: something that is so prized and coveted can also become something one dares not dream of: "Love," she repeated slowly, in an inner voice, and suddenly, at the very instant she finished the buttoning her coat, she added, "Why I don't like the word is that it means too much to me, far more than you can imagine," and she glanced into his face."
Don't expect a linear read, here: from Marcel's descent into a dangerous world to Erica's amazing capacity to deny the impact of her choices until it's too late, and intellectual debates between key protagonists, 10,000 Promises assumes many guises and offers up many unexpected moments: "The slow drifting apart of her marriage, alarmed Erica; it was as though their once happy life had taken a route for which she didn’t understand, strange and dark, where she lost her bearing."
It's almost as if characters operate in two worlds: one of dreams, and one of uncertain realities; in the process finding that one world undermines the other and inflicts pain and illusion into the process of making life-changing choices.
And that's one of the strengths of 10,000 Promises: its ability to neatly wind up the worldviews of three very different protagonists who circle one another much like planets held in place by the sun's gravity.
Also intriguing is the process whereby characters build their illusions of character to justify their lives and choices: "For a long time, Erica told herself that she had tried being the good wife, pushing aside her life to satisfy Mitch; and feeling like a non-entity when she tried being fair by asserting her little hopes and dreams, and when Mitch balked she relinquished all her wants for his."
http://www.amazon.com/10-000-Promises...
Marriage between a man and a woman typically translates to very different perceptions of how life will be shared: at least, it certainly is that way for Erica, who thinks her marriage to the older, wiser Mitch will lead to a passionate and lazy life.
How she could think that the quiet, intellectual Mitch will give her zestful love and an rich life is a puzzle; but when the inevitable disappointment happens, Erica is prompted to take a young lover - and when she does, life becomes even more riddled with questions, challenges, and conflict.
Billy McCoy is a master at creating romances that sparkle with passion as well as disappointment. The foundation premise is stated early on as Erica engages in an intellectual debate: "I think," said Erica, playing with the scarf she had taken off, "I think there so many kinds of love." and it's one that remains supported by events that play out from her decisions based on this ideal.
Another premise: something that is so prized and coveted can also become something one dares not dream of: "Love," she repeated slowly, in an inner voice, and suddenly, at the very instant she finished the buttoning her coat, she added, "Why I don't like the word is that it means too much to me, far more than you can imagine," and she glanced into his face."
Don't expect a linear read, here: from Marcel's descent into a dangerous world to Erica's amazing capacity to deny the impact of her choices until it's too late, and intellectual debates between key protagonists, 10,000 Promises assumes many guises and offers up many unexpected moments: "The slow drifting apart of her marriage, alarmed Erica; it was as though their once happy life had taken a route for which she didn’t understand, strange and dark, where she lost her bearing."
It's almost as if characters operate in two worlds: one of dreams, and one of uncertain realities; in the process finding that one world undermines the other and inflicts pain and illusion into the process of making life-changing choices.
And that's one of the strengths of 10,000 Promises: its ability to neatly wind up the worldviews of three very different protagonists who circle one another much like planets held in place by the sun's gravity.
Also intriguing is the process whereby characters build their illusions of character to justify their lives and choices: "For a long time, Erica told herself that she had tried being the good wife, pushing aside her life to satisfy Mitch; and feeling like a non-entity when she tried being fair by asserting her little hopes and dreams, and when Mitch balked she relinquished all her wants for his."
http://www.amazon.com/10-000-Promises...
No comments have been added yet.
