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- Women's fiction - |
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Losing Julia |
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 Losing Julia byJonathan Hull Delacorte Press 384 pages, 2000 ISBN 0385333757 Reviewed by Nancy Duncan LOSING JULIA is a superb and haunting first novel from award winning journalist, Jonathan Hull, who spent ten years at Time Magazine as a Jerusalem bureau chief and a national correspondent. LOSING JULIA is a splendid story told through the heart and soul of eighty-one-year-old Patrick Delaney, who takes the reader on an unforgettable journey of love, war, friendship, and secret desires laced with desperation. Hull’s writing is eloquent and flawlessly executed, weaving a tale from several perspectives. Hull elevates what could have been an ordinary love story onto a stage rich with historical detail, capturing the romantic terrain of a changing America. The author snares the reader from page one with the vivid and convincing story of a wry and witty Patrick living out his days in a nursing home, where he fondly - if not reluctantly at times - shuffles through memories and the pain of aging. The novel opens in France in 1928 where Patrick meets his deceased friend's lover, Julia. Unwittingly, Patrick falls hopelessly in love. Hull entices the reader with the graphic and realistic ravages of war on individuals and the heart wrenching encounter with Julia in 1928. With sensitivity, Hull peers into the unrest of old age while never losing his flair for the written word. LOSING JULIA is a quick and memorable read from a meticulous craftsman and a superior literate master of fiction. A page turner, sure to entertain late into the night and to linger long after the conclusion. |
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