Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jul 2009
336 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
When a cluster of expatriate families converges on Provence, it seems as if sunshine, good wine, and an endless round of parties will make for a better life. Then Richard, a pharmaceutical salesman married to sexy Valérie, lands a plum assignment: introducing antidepressants into Africa, virgin territory for the drug industry and for the womanizing he has honed to a science. And idealistic Rachel finds herself Africa-bound too, in search of a little brother or sister for her daughter, Maud, and following some deeper longing she can't seem to quell.
For both Richard and Rachel, the excursions will lead them into their own private heart of darkness, and will bring shock waves home to their little Eden, unsettling the very idea of love.
"Dean's gift for descriptive prose is evident, and her edgy story will shake up traditional ideas about what exactly love is. It may also send depressed readers straight for a mood stabilizer." - Publishers Weekly
"This is a lacerating account of middle-aged people looking for love in the worst possible ways." - Library Journal
"Although neither the plot nor the characters quite jell, Dean...has a darkly optimistic, intellectually humanistic sensibility that recalls Iris Murdoch." - Kirkus Reviews
This information about The Idea of Love was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Louise Dean is the author of novels and short stories published in the UK and internationally, including Becoming Strangers, This Human Season, The Idea of Love, and The Old Romantic Her first book, the award-winning Becoming Strangers was voted one of the top 5 fiction books of 2004 by The Observer. Louise Dean was born in Hastings and grew up in Kent going to Cranbrook School and Cambridge University where she read History. After working in marketing for Unilever she went into advertising in London, then Hong Kong, and New York. She is mother to three children and lives in Kent.
The Little Italian Hotel
by Phaedra Patrick
Sunny, tender and brimming with charm, The Little Italian Hotel explores marriage, identity and reclaiming the present moment.
30 Copies to Give Away!
A funny and poignant debut novel that skewers billionaire-funded space travel in a love story of interplanetary proportions.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
