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If I Forget You: A Novel
by Thomas Christopher Greene
Hardcover : 256 pages
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"Thomas Christopher Greene's If I Forget You is the most moving and beautifully-written love story I've read since Cold Mountain."?Howard Frank Mosher, author of God's Kingdom
Two former lovers reconnect in this beautiful and haunting tale of great lost love from the critically acclaimed ...
Introduction
"Thomas Christopher Greene's If I Forget You is the most moving and beautifully-written love story I've read since Cold Mountain."?Howard Frank Mosher, author of God's Kingdom
Two former lovers reconnect in this beautiful and haunting tale of great lost love from the critically acclaimed author of The Headmaster's Wife
Deeply affecting and compulsively readable, The Headmaster's Wife was a breakout book for Thomas Christopher Greene. Now, Greene returns with a beautifully written, emotional new novel perfect for his growing audience.
Twenty-one years after they were driven apart by circumstances beyond their control, two former lovers have a chance encounter on a Manhattan street. What follows is a tense, suspenseful exploration of the many facets of enduring love. Told from altering points of view through time, If I Forget You tells the story of Henry Gold, a poet whose rise from poverty embodies the American dream, and Margot Fuller, the daughter of a prominent, wealthy family, and their unlikely, star-crossed love affair, complete with the secrets they carry when they find each other for the second time.
Written in lyrical prose, If I Forget You is at once a great love story, a novel of marriage, manners, and family, a meditation on the nature of art, a moving elegy to what it means to love and to lose, and how the choices we make can change our lives forever.
Excerpt
Henry, 2012On the kind of beautiful spring day where no one expects anything of significance to happen, Henry Gold, a poet who teaches at NYU, finishes class and decides to do something he has not done in years: walk a good length of the city to his apartment. Normally he hops on the A train at West Fourth Street and arrives within a few blocks of his house. Today he is feeling inspired, as if he has not seen the sun shining in a while, though that can’t be true, can it? Hasn’t it been a magnificent spring? ... view entire excerpt...
Discussion Questions
Would you have left Henry at the vineyard? Why or why not?Have you had a similar experience as the main characters?
How do you think that Alex and Jess will adjust to these new circumstances in their lives? In the case of Alex, his parents' divorce and the revelations about his birth?
Do you think these characters: Margot, Henry, Jess and Emma will be able to form a new blended family?
How will the reconnection of Margot and Henry affect the future of Chad and Ruth? Will it cause them bitterness as the revelations of the past become known or will it allow each of them to find some peace and a new start in life?
How much would you be willing to give up for an intense love?
Life does not always play out as we think it will. What experiences have you had or choices have you made that affected the rest of your life?
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