If Only Love: A memoir of second chances

by Shelley Saywell

Description

"An astonishing memoir of love's enduring power, resilience and transformation, If Only Love is a celebration of the timeless connection between two souls, a real-life love story for the ages. In 1973, a seventeen-year-old Canadian girl meets an American boy on her first day of school in Japan and falls in love, not realizing that he is also a goner for her. When they finally connect, they only have two months together before school's out and she has to head home. Bad timing and swirling show more emotion botch their attempt to stay together and they fall out of touch. Long after she loses him, she still thinks of him, and even sets out on a journey to find him, one that fails in the most traumatic of ways. Thirty years later, after her award-winning documentary career has taken her to the most dangerous of places pursuing the toughest of storie, Daniel Peterson's name pops up in an email in Shelley Saywell's inbox, delivering them both a second chance at love. Soon they are edging towards each other in a soul-baring exchange of emails that slowly confirms that their teenage love was real. For fifteen years, they are bonded in life and in love, only to have their marriage cut short when Daniel is diagnosed with terminal cancer. By braiding together the strands of time, threads of first love enhancing threads of grief, a magic reunion undone by final separation, Saywell reveals the power of memory and the healing magic of love. In his last moments, she asks Daniel, "Can we do this again?" and he replies, "We'll do it again, only better." Hard to imagine any two people doing love better, or any writer creating a more touching, revelatory story and testament to the heart."-- show less

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pgchuis 2,210 reviews

I received a copy of this memoir from the publisher via NetGalley.

This tells the story of Shelley and Daniel, who met at boarding school in Japan and fell in love, but things went wrong and they lost touch. Then 30 years later they find each other again and enjoy 12 years together before Daniel dies of cancer. This is not a spoiler - the time frames of the narrative are blended throughout. I think this effect is an important part of what the author was trying to say, but at times (especially at the beginning) it could be confusing - certainly the formatting of my ARC often concealed where one memory ended and another began.

This was moving and read as very real - the scene describing how Shelley and Daniel broke up as 18 year olds felt show more excruciating and relatable. While the thrust of the memoir was about love and grief, I learnt a lot about Asia during this period. I wish Shelley well. show less

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