If You Knew Me - Hardcover

In all her best work, Roiphe (The Pursuit of Happiness, 1991, etc.) has mined the depth of human love and exposed its secret lode of sorrow. Here, she does it again in a gently funny, ultimately serious, heartfelt story about the risks of middle-age love. Leah Rose meets Ollie Marcus when she plunges into the surf on a fall afternoon to help him rescue his retarded adult sister, Sally--a portentous action, as it turns out. Leah, in her early 40s, is a biologist on sabbatical from her lab, living in the beach house she inherited from her parents. Ollie, about the same age, is a high-school English teacher who lives in the house where he grew up and takes care of his sister. Sally is saved that fall day--and some small spark is ignited between Leah and Ollie. It smolders quietly for a while--these two have been alone for a long time and they're used to it. So when things finally do flame, they're frightened. Life is so bright, it makes them wary. Ollie backs off. Leah voices her concerns, by telephone, to her best friend, Myrna. And even though Myrna seems tiresome and monomaniacal in the exchanges we hear--we learn more than we ever wanted to know about how her bathroom smells--she does come up with some pointed advice: ``Be careful,'' she cautions Leah. ``There's a reason he's still available.'' There is. But, of course, there are reasons Leah is still available too. What they both have to figure out is where fear ends and trust begins. Finding that spot takes far more courage than jumping into the icy sea on a fall day--and, ultimately, it's worth every shiver. A coming-of-age in middle-age. Roiphe shows us a new facet of first love here--slightly worn, but its shine is deep. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

An unlikely love affair between two lonely, awkward, middle-aged people is the subject of Roiphe's ultimately moving novel. Burnt out and restless, 40-ish molecular biologist Leah Rose is on sabbatical from her job in Manhattan, living quietly in her childhood home in a small seashore community. She meets English teacher Ollie Masters when she helps rescue his retarded, obese sister Sally from the surf. Leah and Ollie's ensuing relationship is shadowed by Sally's demanding presence, Ollie's sense of responsibility toward his sibling and the dark secret he eventually reveals. Roiphe's characterization of three difficult, needy people is subtle and intense. Those familiar with her lengthy and detailed novels of family life ( Lovingkindness ; The Pursuit of Happiness ), will be surprised both by the brevity of this work and by a new prose style. Perhaps in an effort to approximate a scientist's direct, rational thought process, Roiphe uses terse and repetitive declarative sentences:"She rubbed her leg. She felt hot and cold. She gulped down her tea." The unadorned prose becomes increasingly appropriate as Roiphe moves a deceptively simple plot (with several intriguing subtexts) toward a twisting denouement that not only effectively confounds the reader's predictions but is at once realistic and poignant. Moreover, as the narrative tension accelerates, one becomes aware of Roiphe's maturing wisdom about life and love and human relationships.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.