L'America

L'America by Martha McPhee has been the most profoundly moving book I have read so far this year. The story of an American woman and an Italian man who fall in love and never can be together, not because of some evil plot or debt of honor but because they both have dreams that cannot blend together, expectations from their families and cultures that hold them tight. The story starts with the man getting a letter from his ex-lover's husband letting him know that she has died. He remembers the beginning of their relationship from the giddy first days to the sad and bitter ending. As the book progresses the reader becomes more and more aware that this will never work. That they are doomed, not only to fail in this love but to also never be able to fully leave it behind. This was a story that hurts to read but is beautiful in the telling. Technically it is not the best book I have read this year and so it probably won't go on my list but I am glad for the journey.