Enjoyed it more than I expected.

Erich Segal is the writer of Love Story a movie I hated.

So I was surprised to like this. ( )

It's tempting to say it's a romance, but it's really not.

It's a drama which entires its story upon a romantic relationship.

It's unusual for the biggest strength of a good book to be amazing writing. I can't think of many books that stand out in the memory as so well written, so imaginatively poised. Segal is an author I need to find again, for his way of melding words inspires. Easy to follow but beautiful at the same time, his poise is almost poetic, but it's not cloying.

Plot-wise it's interesting and I don't think I've read one like this one before - not overly romantic, not terribly suspenseful or gripping, and the story wraps up with a sad note (but not a haunting one.) Basically a doctor meets a patient of his who is dying, and recognizes the woman as a life of his life, and then begins remembering their relationship twenty years ago. A mixed bag here. Sometimes I did get a bit bored with some of the backstory details. Even if it's not overly nail-biting, there's something about it that keeps you reading.

The protagonist is a sympathetic character, a man with morals and drive but with human flaw. It was cool to read this kind of story from a male perspective.The heroine is likeable but of course from the protagonists POV twenty years later she is at fault. The ending allows him to feel closure for a life of his life.

It's not a novel that will grip your heart, but the magic of the writer at least makes your heart feel it. ( )

1978
A group of idealistic young doctors join a mission of mercy to Africa.
Two of them, Matthew and Silvia, fall in love. They have one year together before they are swept apart by bloodshed and violence. Matthew Hiller has been in mourning ever since.
The present.
A pioneer in genetic therapy at the very top of his field, Matthew is appealed to by a rich man whose wife's brain tumour has been declared inoperable by every other surgeon. When she walks through the door he sees that it is Silvia, as beautiful as ever -- still his "only love". It's as if the years have never passed.
He must save her life. And if he does... what then?
By the author of one of the bestselling novels of all time, Only Love is a superbly crafted, deeply moving novel of love lost and found.