From Publishers Weekly
In Sussman's heart-wrenching debut, two former high school classmates take a second chance at love, despite one partner's terminal cancer. Resisting the impulse to descend into bathos, Sussman shows remarkable restraint in her depiction of a love affair that transforms a dying woman's last days into a celebration of life. When Luke Bellingham, an acclaimed screenwriter in his 40s, agrees to become "Finder of Lost Souls" for his 25th high school reunion, the only lost classmate he really wants to find is the enigmatic Blair Clemens, whose gang rape at 17 inspired his Oscar-winning screenplay, Pescadero. Suffering from writer's block and his wife's sudden desertion, Luke is thrilled to discover that Blair lives near him in San Francisco. Bohemian Blair is now a single mom as well as chef of a chic restaurant, but beginning a relationship is definitely not on her agenda when she agrees to reconnect with Luke after first meeting his cute dog, Sweetpea. All she wants to do is work, have no-strings sex with her ever-randy ex-hippie landlord and enjoy what's left of her life with her teenage daughter, Amanda. At their initial meeting, the immediately smitten Luke informs her, "On a night like this, I could fall in love," and Blair, frightened by her own attraction, quickly retorts, "Don't bother... I'm dying." The novel's elegant denouement and Sussman's fluid treatment of tough moments make this a keeper for fans of high-caliber weepies.
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Barbara Goodson and Michael Gough share in narrating this evocative love story. Luke Bellingham is a successful screenwriter who has retreated from life after his wife left him. He volunteers to find "lost souls" for their high school reunion, but the truth is that the only person he really wants to find is Blair Clemens, who inspired his first (and grandly successful) screenplay. When she turns up, he learns she's terminally ill. Although this plot could have been overly sentimental, happily, it turns out to be a romantic and realistic story of two people bringing love into each other's lives. Goodson and Gough voice the emotions of the story simply and cleanly, and convey the souls of the characters. The passages they read are well assigned, and long enough so that the switches are not distracting. Sussman has crafted an emotionally resonant novel and the narrators do it full justice. M.A.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine--
Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
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