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The Years
The Years is about the passage of time: from youth to middle age to the winter of life. Forty years after their intense but doomed college romance, Lawrence and Hermia meet again on a Mediterranean cruise. They fall in love even more deeply, but being in their sixties, with plenty of baggage, they wonder if marriage is the right move. When Lawrence visits Hermia�s home on Cape Cod, she has one request: �Please stay.� What happens when he does fills the rest of this wise and unforgettable novel.
With enormous sympathy and keen insight, Nicholas Delbanco follows Hermia and Lawrence through their years together and apart, in Los Angeles and New York, Michigan and Massachusetts, in frailness and in health. Old scores are settled; old wounds healed. A stunning, wise book about first and final love, The Years addresses the irrevocable end of life�and what ultimately endures.
With enormous sympathy and keen insight, Nicholas Delbanco follows Hermia and Lawrence through their years together and apart, in Los Angeles and New York, Michigan and Massachusetts, in frailness and in health. Old scores are settled; old wounds healed. A stunning, wise book about first and final love, The Years addresses the irrevocable end of life�and what ultimately endures.
- GenresFiction
386 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 13, 2015
146 people are currently reading
646 people want to read
About the author
Nicholas Delbanco
99 books18 followersNicholas Delbanco is the Robert Frost Distinguished University Professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Michigan and Chair of the Hopwood Committee. He has published twenty-five books of fiction and non-fiction. His most recent novels are The Count of Concord and Spring and Fall; his most recent works of non-fiction are The Countess of Stanlein Restored and The Lost Suitcase: Reflections on the Literary Life. As editor he has compiled the work of, among others, John Gardner and Bernard Malamud. The long-term Director of the MFA Program as well as the Hopwood Awards Program at the University of Michigan, he has served as Chair of the Fiction Panel for the National Book Awards, received a Guggenheim Fellowship and, twice, a National Endowment for the Arts Writing Fellowship. Professor Delbanco has just completed a teaching text for McGraw-Hill entitled Literature: Craft and Voice, a three-volume Introduction to Literature of which he is the co-editor with Alan Cheuse; in 2004 he published The Sincerest Form: Writiing Fiction by Imitation. His new non-fiction book, Lastingness: The Art of Old Age will be published by Grand Central Publishing in 2011.
Full Biography
NOTE: The following biography was composed in 2000 by Jon Manchip White and reflects information only up to and including that year.
Nationality: American. Born: London, England, 1942. Education: Harvard University, B.A. 1963; Columbia University, M.A. 1966. Career: Member of Department of Language and Literature, Bennington College, Bennington, Vermont, 1966-84, writing workshop director, 1977-84; professor of English, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York, 1984-85; Robert Frost Professor of English Language and Literature, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1985—. Awards: National Endowment for the Arts creative writing award, 1973, 1982; National Endowment of Composers and Librettists fellowship, 1976; Guggenheim fellowship, 1980; Woodrow Wilson fellowship; Edward John Noble fellowship; New York State CAPS Award; Vermont Council of the Arts Award; Michigan Council of the Arts Award. Agent: Brandt & Brandt Literary Agents, Inc., 1501 Broadway, New York, New York 10036, U.S.A.
As a novelist, Nicholas Delbanco can be considered doubly fortunate in that he has always been able to draw inspiration and sustenance from two continents and two cultures.
Of Italian and German descent, he was born in London at the height of the German Blitz, and his family did not depart for America until he was six, and he was not naturalized as an American citizen until he was eleven. It is not surprising that, though later he would anchor himself firmly in New England and particularly in Vermont, and more recently in Michigan as the Robert Frost Professor of English Language and Literature, the influence of his European origins would play a consistent part in his fiction and non-fiction alike.
The cultural ambivalence, if such it may be called, manifested itself early. At Harvard, his B.A. thesis was devoted to a joint study of Rilke and Heredia, two noteworthy wanderers, and the subject of his M.A. thesis was that tragic outcast, Malcolm Lowry. Examining the numerous novels Delbanco has published to date, one finds that only five are set exclusively in the United States and that the majority are set, either in whole or part, in Provence, Tuscany, Greece, Switzerland, or as far afield as Barbados and Mexico. Several of his non-fiction books are concerned with Europe, one of them a study of that remarkable group of literary exiles, including Conrad, Crane, and James, who lived and worked together in a small corner of England at the turn of the last century. Indeed, one of the courses Delbanco has taught over the years is specifically entitled “Exiles,” and is devoted to Becket, Conrad, and Nabokov, while other courses have featured a gallery of roving and displaced novelists such as Joyce, Lawrence, Forster, Ford, Mann, Fitzgerald, and He
Full Biography
NOTE: The following biography was composed in 2000 by Jon Manchip White and reflects information only up to and including that year.
Nationality: American. Born: London, England, 1942. Education: Harvard University, B.A. 1963; Columbia University, M.A. 1966. Career: Member of Department of Language and Literature, Bennington College, Bennington, Vermont, 1966-84, writing workshop director, 1977-84; professor of English, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York, 1984-85; Robert Frost Professor of English Language and Literature, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1985—. Awards: National Endowment for the Arts creative writing award, 1973, 1982; National Endowment of Composers and Librettists fellowship, 1976; Guggenheim fellowship, 1980; Woodrow Wilson fellowship; Edward John Noble fellowship; New York State CAPS Award; Vermont Council of the Arts Award; Michigan Council of the Arts Award. Agent: Brandt & Brandt Literary Agents, Inc., 1501 Broadway, New York, New York 10036, U.S.A.
As a novelist, Nicholas Delbanco can be considered doubly fortunate in that he has always been able to draw inspiration and sustenance from two continents and two cultures.
Of Italian and German descent, he was born in London at the height of the German Blitz, and his family did not depart for America until he was six, and he was not naturalized as an American citizen until he was eleven. It is not surprising that, though later he would anchor himself firmly in New England and particularly in Vermont, and more recently in Michigan as the Robert Frost Professor of English Language and Literature, the influence of his European origins would play a consistent part in his fiction and non-fiction alike.
The cultural ambivalence, if such it may be called, manifested itself early. At Harvard, his B.A. thesis was devoted to a joint study of Rilke and Heredia, two noteworthy wanderers, and the subject of his M.A. thesis was that tragic outcast, Malcolm Lowry. Examining the numerous novels Delbanco has published to date, one finds that only five are set exclusively in the United States and that the majority are set, either in whole or part, in Provence, Tuscany, Greece, Switzerland, or as far afield as Barbados and Mexico. Several of his non-fiction books are concerned with Europe, one of them a study of that remarkable group of literary exiles, including Conrad, Crane, and James, who lived and worked together in a small corner of England at the turn of the last century. Indeed, one of the courses Delbanco has taught over the years is specifically entitled “Exiles,” and is devoted to Becket, Conrad, and Nabokov, while other courses have featured a gallery of roving and displaced novelists such as Joyce, Lawrence, Forster, Ford, Mann, Fitzgerald, and He
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
January 6, 2019
While I did like the plot of how this book was described, the contents were boring as hell. I try to give every book a chance but my instincts were screaming to pass up. However, I wanted to prove it wrong but that was a bad idea cause this book was so dense, it literally made no sense. I liked the beginning about an elderly man wanting to go on vacation but then it quickly turned into an inconsistent mess. There were so many tangents and unnecessary dialogue, it just did nothing for me.
It would have been better with much better character development and consistency. Yet this book did nothing but annoy me to no end, it just was not worth any of the hype that it received. I just wish that the synopsis translated on the content of this book..
Boring, forgettable and it absolutely had no direction.
NEXT!
It would have been better with much better character development and consistency. Yet this book did nothing but annoy me to no end, it just was not worth any of the hype that it received. I just wish that the synopsis translated on the content of this book..
Boring, forgettable and it absolutely had no direction.
NEXT!
February 8, 2015
I know that Nicholas Delbanco is a distinguished professor and author....maybe I'm too much of a lowbrow. I wanted so much to like this book, but I didn't.
The basic story tells of how two people meet on a Mediterranean cruise forty years after their college romance and know that they want to spend the rest of their lives together....and how THAT turns out. The first chapter captured my interest, but all the discourse following that seemed interminable. There was so much about wealthy people, foreign ports, travel itineraries, and above all, architectural information. So many characters were hopping in and out of beds and marriages...I just couldn't care about them.
I received this book free of charge from Goodreads First Reads and I do appreciate it. I'm sure many more intellectual readers will enjoy it....I'm sorry, but I didn't.
The basic story tells of how two people meet on a Mediterranean cruise forty years after their college romance and know that they want to spend the rest of their lives together....and how THAT turns out. The first chapter captured my interest, but all the discourse following that seemed interminable. There was so much about wealthy people, foreign ports, travel itineraries, and above all, architectural information. So many characters were hopping in and out of beds and marriages...I just couldn't care about them.
I received this book free of charge from Goodreads First Reads and I do appreciate it. I'm sure many more intellectual readers will enjoy it....I'm sorry, but I didn't.
March 16, 2015
Novel as poetry
This book touched me and reminded me why I read: to be fully entertained,to learn, to discover great writers. I want everyone to read this book and comprehend how important events change us and unimportant people can dismantle us, and then it's time for our babies to make our decisions. This is the best book I've read in years.
This book touched me and reminded me why I read: to be fully entertained,to learn, to discover great writers. I want everyone to read this book and comprehend how important events change us and unimportant people can dismantle us, and then it's time for our babies to make our decisions. This is the best book I've read in years.
October 15, 2016
Have you ever wondered what would happen if you were able to reconnect with a former love, now that you're both older and wiser? "The Years" explores this concept. Lawrence and Hermia met in college and were instantly attracted to each other. Their romance moved forward, quickly and intensely, but did not last. Each moved on with his or her life, married,enjoyed careers, and divorced. Following his doctor's orders to take a vacation and rest after a medical scare, Lawrence goes on a cruise, and is strongly drawn to a beautiful woman who turns out to be his lost love, Hermia. Their shipboard romance picks up where their college romance left off, and Hermia invites Lawrence to visit her home in Cape Cod, where they had shared a magical weekend in college. At the end of his planned visit, Hermia asks Lawrence to stay. Their relationship blossoms into something deeper and more serious than either of them were ready for in college. They share good times and difficult times, but most of all love, as they blend into one another's families. Is love the same in your 60's as it is in your 20's? You'll have to read "The Years" to find out! I enjoyed it very much!
April 4, 2015
The author, Nicholas Delbanco, is an award-winning literature professor, and has very good credentials, so I really wanted to like this novel. The blurb promises something that suits my taste: college sweethearts finding each other again by chance after more than forty years. Even with nothing else said, that short phrase alone caught my attention.
But...disappointment...boredom...these were what I felt and experienced while struggling to finish this book. What I thought would be a book of feelings of warmth and love turned out to be more of a textbook about architecture and arts. Often, I got lost in the storyline because of so many pages of discussions about a place's history of its art and architecture. Those pages robbed me of the chance to feel and be present in the story.
If this is a taste of Mr. Delbanco's style, then I'm not doing a repeat.
But...disappointment...boredom...these were what I felt and experienced while struggling to finish this book. What I thought would be a book of feelings of warmth and love turned out to be more of a textbook about architecture and arts. Often, I got lost in the storyline because of so many pages of discussions about a place's history of its art and architecture. Those pages robbed me of the chance to feel and be present in the story.
If this is a taste of Mr. Delbanco's style, then I'm not doing a repeat.
July 10, 2015
Boring
October 1, 2015
DNF not as "notebookish" as I had assumed it was going to be
July 27, 2018
The Years by Nicholas DeLbanco
Starts out and we learn about Lawrence and his younger years and during college, the people he meets.
In his older days, he's suffered a heart attack and doctor recommends he goes on a cruise overseas where he does reunite with an old college friend.
They are both single and unattached and reimnsce of their younger days.
Each of their lives we learn about in detail over the years. Love hearing of the architecture and design of things during the book.
Like how their go their own ways and we learn of their past and the reuniting of their lives once again. Health and other obstacles come to light and family come back.
So many changes over the years as some come and go and health problems. Like how it ends and felt the author knew what a woman was going through even though he's a male. Very perspective. About the author is included at the end.
Free from IHG rewards
Starts out and we learn about Lawrence and his younger years and during college, the people he meets.
In his older days, he's suffered a heart attack and doctor recommends he goes on a cruise overseas where he does reunite with an old college friend.
They are both single and unattached and reimnsce of their younger days.
Each of their lives we learn about in detail over the years. Love hearing of the architecture and design of things during the book.
Like how their go their own ways and we learn of their past and the reuniting of their lives once again. Health and other obstacles come to light and family come back.
So many changes over the years as some come and go and health problems. Like how it ends and felt the author knew what a woman was going through even though he's a male. Very perspective. About the author is included at the end.
Free from IHG rewards
March 4, 2019
I received this as a Goodreads Book Giveaway and thank them for the opportunity to read it.
I was disappointed in this book. The preview of the book sounded light and interesting. When college sweethearts meet by chance on a cruise, they try to rekindle their love. It seemed that there was a lot of hesitations, a lot of misgivings and trying too hard to make it work. It sounded like the ruminations of a lonely widow neighbor. When he gets the chance to tell his story, he delves into minutiae and leaves out nothing. I found Hermia to be sarcastic and caustic and Lawrence to be too accommodating. It plodded along and I started counting the pages to the end.
I was disappointed in this book. The preview of the book sounded light and interesting. When college sweethearts meet by chance on a cruise, they try to rekindle their love. It seemed that there was a lot of hesitations, a lot of misgivings and trying too hard to make it work. It sounded like the ruminations of a lonely widow neighbor. When he gets the chance to tell his story, he delves into minutiae and leaves out nothing. I found Hermia to be sarcastic and caustic and Lawrence to be too accommodating. It plodded along and I started counting the pages to the end.
November 3, 2024
I read this on Kindle reader. I'm not sure how I came across having it in my app - probably from an Amazon First Reads giveaway. I took a while, initially, to get into it because I was so worried Lawrence was going to end up being a jackass.
But, nevertheless, this book broke my heart. It's so telling. It's not the material things, it's the memories and relationships that matter. Also, Delbanco did a great job of writing about what it must be like to live with dementia.
Overall, a very, very well told story with great writing. Delbanco's students should consider themselves fortunate to have been taught by him!
But, nevertheless, this book broke my heart. It's so telling. It's not the material things, it's the memories and relationships that matter. Also, Delbanco did a great job of writing about what it must be like to live with dementia.
Overall, a very, very well told story with great writing. Delbanco's students should consider themselves fortunate to have been taught by him!
August 3, 2018
It was a birthday gift along with my first Kindle that I binged through it in one weekend. The author tried really hard to convince the reader that it was the ultimate love between these two people got them back together after 40 years apart. He dedicated view points, life stories from both sides which was a good way to further explore the possibilities. But somehow I don’t relate either of them, a total fairytale.
November 24, 2018
Unexpected Gift
Stunning. The intricacies and emotional detail; the journeys, both soul and flesh. The delicate ways of describing what some might call “demise”, but I saw as peculiar awakening. Very vulnerable yet with strength and a silent awareness subtly brought through this wonderful narrative of life. You made me pick up my pen, for the first time in a great while, and made me long to write again. And so I am. Thank you for this unexpected gift.
Stunning. The intricacies and emotional detail; the journeys, both soul and flesh. The delicate ways of describing what some might call “demise”, but I saw as peculiar awakening. Very vulnerable yet with strength and a silent awareness subtly brought through this wonderful narrative of life. You made me pick up my pen, for the first time in a great while, and made me long to write again. And so I am. Thank you for this unexpected gift.
July 20, 2017
Long, verbose read. Underlying story somewhat depressing. Lots of background, tedious information that unless you are knowledgeable in art and art history, is pointless to the story. Makes for boring reading and skipped pages. Would not recommend.
May 18, 2017
ok read. sometimes hard to follow.
December 18, 2017
Beautifully written and terribly frustrating
December 15, 2018
A little slow at times but enjoyed overall.
July 3, 2019
I honestly did enjoy this book - Four stars only because I struggled to stay focused during some of the "historic descriptions" - But the story itself - touched my heart.
December 3, 2021
Plodding! What might have been a two hundred page romance droned on and on. The author is a professor, bet I could snooze through his classes.
November 5, 2024
I loved this book and recommend it, especially to those over 65.
September 29, 2025
Awfully dull. Never finished it.
January 28, 2018
Sweet, but predictable.
March 23, 2015
The Years
By: Nicholas Delbanco January 13, 2015
Published By: Little A Pages. 384
Copy Courtesy of Goodreads First Reads
Reviewed By: tk
A breathtaking journey of the deepest love possible.
Lawrence and Hermia meet in college. Their romance was ended when Lawrence graduated, leaving Hermia in her senior year to continue without him. For the next forty years they continue their separate lives, yet never once forgetting the other. They will carry each other in their hearts until a chance encounter on a cruise ship forty years later.
This story has made an incredible change in my life. I absolutely adore the relationship that this couple rekindles after so many years apart. I laughed, and cried through the entire story. I could only hope that my true love is still out there, and we would have half of what this couple has. I have hope once again.
Nicholas Delbanco is majestic, and stunning talent. The flow is smooth and flowing. The characters are so believable I felt that I knew them personally. If you enjoy an emotionally charged, unforgettable love story, this is for you. A must have in any library. I highly recommend this read! 5/5
By: Nicholas Delbanco January 13, 2015
Published By: Little A Pages. 384
Copy Courtesy of Goodreads First Reads
Reviewed By: tk
A breathtaking journey of the deepest love possible.
Lawrence and Hermia meet in college. Their romance was ended when Lawrence graduated, leaving Hermia in her senior year to continue without him. For the next forty years they continue their separate lives, yet never once forgetting the other. They will carry each other in their hearts until a chance encounter on a cruise ship forty years later.
This story has made an incredible change in my life. I absolutely adore the relationship that this couple rekindles after so many years apart. I laughed, and cried through the entire story. I could only hope that my true love is still out there, and we would have half of what this couple has. I have hope once again.
Nicholas Delbanco is majestic, and stunning talent. The flow is smooth and flowing. The characters are so believable I felt that I knew them personally. If you enjoy an emotionally charged, unforgettable love story, this is for you. A must have in any library. I highly recommend this read! 5/5
January 20, 2016
The premise of this book intrigued me. Who hasn't wondered what it would be like to reconnect with a first love after many years( in the characters ' situation - 40 years!) of being apart? Would we still feel that same attraction or would we have become two completely different people? I enjoyed the basic love story of Hermia and Lawrence rediscovering their relationship. Great writing moved this novel along in places where it could have been plodding. The other familial relationships are explored as well and those added another nice dimension to this plot. I enjoyed this book enough that I did not want to put it down and it was perfect reading on these cold snowy days. However, without using spoilers, I will say the latter part of the book left me pretty depressed. The end is designed to provide closure but I just felt sad. Aside from a few instances of obscene language (which, as usual, did not enhance the storytelling) I would still recommend this for anyone who wants to explore how unrequited love can be requited at last.
May 26, 2015
The Years is a beautiful tale of a love that was lost and then found. Imagine meeting the love of your life in college and losing them. Then forty years later after failed marriages, children, career, you find them again, and it's all or more than you ever dreamed it could be. What next? Hermia and Lawrence are granted a new lease on life, another chance to fulfill the love that fate stole from them. The sands of time may be running out, but it's what they do with the time left to them that really matters.
October 25, 2015
Omg I go to write my review and apparently I hated this book. Thank goodness for memory loss as totally don't remember and I really enjoyed this time around. Go figure. A couple fall madly in love their senior year in college. He unexpectedly ends it and they go their separate ways. Fast forward 42 years and they are on the same Mediterranean cruise. They reconnect. Every other chapter is what transpired during the past 42 years. I found this book a very honest telling of growing old. I would recommend.
June 27, 2015
Boring
Story did not move along well. Too much on various types of architecture not only when main make character was travelling in Europe after college but again years later we get dragged through that again. Just a plodding book, in my opinion, and wordy but story does not seem to move forward.
Story did not move along well. Too much on various types of architecture not only when main make character was travelling in Europe after college but again years later we get dragged through that again. Just a plodding book, in my opinion, and wordy but story does not seem to move forward.
April 7, 2015
Lawrence and Hermia meet again on a cruise in their latter years. While they have both lived full lives, they find themselves drawn to spend their last years together. Very touching book, but somewhat depressing to see the main characters age and become ever more frail.
January 3, 2020
I especially liked the setting in Cambridge, MA & Cape Cod. It felt like a movie, told around a few key characters through vignettes over many decades. Reminiscent of Love Story, but still very engaging.
January 23, 2015
I am a sucker for lost loves and finding one and another again, so I enjoyed the book.
August 27, 2015
Lovely book I really enjoyed it
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews