Love in the Present Tense
by Catherine Ryan Hyde
List Price:
Our Price: $7.16
You Save: $6.79 (49%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Catherine Ryan HydeEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-07-10
ISBN: 0307276716
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of Love in the Present Tense
Book Review: A forceful tale with a powerful message
Summary: 4 Stars
"Love in the Present Tense" is a novel about unconditional love--that special, all-embracing, all-forgiving love that goes on forever. Unconditional love is ceaseless, never possessing a past tense. If there were a world of unconditional love, you would never hear the words: "I loved you."
Pearl, a street-wise 13-year-old girl with a drug addict for a mother, has never known unconditional love. She is wise beyond her years. She knows, above all else, that forever love is what she needs. She thinks she finds it in a policeman with kind eyes. She lets him drive her home late one night, allows him to have sex with her, and then she accidentally kills him with his own gun. She is immediately on the run, but at the same time she intuitively knows that she has succeeded in her life's goal. She is sure she's conceived a child that same night. She yearns to envelop that new life in a forever-safety-net of unconditional love. If she does this, she is certain the child will love her back in the same way.
Pearl was right. Nine months later, she gives birth to Leonard. She moves to a small city where she hopes no one will find her. Across the street lives Mitch, a 25-year-old entrepreneur running a successful Website development firm out of his home.
Mitch has never given the concept of unconditional love a second thought. He's too busy running his business and having a dangerous long-term affair with Barb, the wife of his major client. This gorgeous woman is old enough to be his mother, but he can't help but fall under her spell. Mitch is not the type of man to analyze life. He just goes with it. He's knows he's fallen in lust with Barb, and imagines that he probably loves her, too. That's enough for him. It doesn't worry him that Barb's husband loves him like a son. He's blind to his own wrongdoings.
When Leonard is five and being taken care of by Mitch, Pearl disappears. Leonard's forever love is gone, but he never wavers in his absolute faith and love for his lost mother. Without his mother around, the small child turns the searing spotlight of his forever love full-bore on Mitch. The man barely understands what's hit him...that his whole world is about to change forever.
Thus the stage is set for the rest of the novel to unfold. What happens to Pearl? Will Pearl ever return? Will Leonard be able to hold on to his unconditional love for his missing mother? Will Mitch be allowed to continue caring for Leonard? Will Mitch realize the errors of his ways? Will Mitch turn his life toward a more meaningful existence?
Catherine Ryan Hyde is a strong writer. She knows the art of storytelling and is completely at home dealing with the nuances of the human connections. She is deft at charting a fast-paced course through the misadventures and tragedies of everyday existence.
Hyde create believable characters. They are flawed, as we all are. In this book, she shows us that even deeply flawed human beings can be redeemed through understanding, forgiveness, and unconditional love. I thoroughly enjoyed this story. But I am a sucker for a book with an important message, especially one like this one, with a message dear to my heart.
Literary Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Literary Books
Island (Perennial Classics)by Aldous Huxley
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 2002-07-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
Angelsby Marian Keyes
William Morrow; Published: 2002-05-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.11
Price in other shops:
A Tree Grows in Brooklynby Betty Smith
Harper; Published: 2001-11-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.80
Price in other shops:
The Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptationby Paulo Coelho
Harper; Published: 2006-07-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.50
Price in other shops:
Boonville: A Novelby Robert Mailer Anderson
Harper Perennial; Published: 2003-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
Carameloby Sandra Cisneros
HarperAudio; Published: 2002-10-01; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $4.60
Price in other shops:
Headhunterby Timothy Findley
PERENNIAL PUBLICATIONS; Paperback; Book
The Crimson Petal And The Whiteby Michel Faber
Harcourt, Inc./Harvest; Published: 2003; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.50
Great Expectationsby Charles Dickens
Macmillan Pub Co; Published: 1979-06; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops:
This Side of Paradiseby Fitzgerald
Scribner Paper Fiction; Published: 1988-09-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.95
Price in other shops:
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
The Day I Killed Jamesby Catherine Ryan Hyde
Knopf Books for Young Readers; Published: 2010-10-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.80
Price in other shops:
Girl in Translationby Jean Kwok
Riverhead Trade; Published: 2011-05-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.30
Price in other shops:
Elizabeth Streetby Laurie Fabiano
Mariner Books; Published: 2011-10-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.75
Price in other shops:
Room: A Novelby Emma Donoghue
Back Bay Books; Published: 2011-05-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.65
Price in other shops:
Becoming Chloeby Catherine Ryan Hyde
Knopf Books for Young Readers; Published: 2008-11-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.00
Price in other shops:
Chasing Windmillsby Catherine Ryan Hyde
Flying Dolphin Press; Published: 2008-03-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.49
Price in other shops:
Love in the Present Tense: How to Have a High Intimacy, Low Maintenance Marriageby Morrie Shechtman, Arleah Shechtman
Bull Publishing Company; Published: 2003-12-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.75
Price in other shops: