Review: Packed full of emotion- SPOILERS
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 19, 2013
In a novella, every word has to count, and Victoria Dahl brings it in Strong Enough to Love. The story is short, but ever so powerful.When we first meet Eve, she is feeling melancholy. Her life is good, but she isn't happy. Her friend and assistant, Grace, forces her to go to a party. Eve concedes, although she would rather stay home and watch TV. Once there, Eve is approached by a man she hooked up with, disasterously, a year ago. He persuades her to give him another chance, and she leaves the party feeling cautiously optimistic. The pessimists in the room know this is not a good thing, because that is precisely when life will reach out and smack you down.Sure enough, Eve arrives back at her apartment only to find the reason for her depressed mood is back. Waiting for her. Two years ago, Brian had left Jackson Hole to give his floundering marriage one more chance. Eve was devastated by Brian leaving, even though she had never let on to him that she loved him. What Eve did not know until after Brian left was that he was falling in love with her, too. Somehow, that knowledge made the situation all that much worse for Eve. Not only did she lose the man she loved, but she was faced with living with the fact that Brian didn't think she was worth staying for.The depth of emotion in this story is astonishing. The pain Eve feels radiates off the pages. She doesn't hold back with Brian. She is angry, she is hurt, she is feeling humiliated by his rejection at the same time she completely understands why he had to walk away. Understanding something does not always make it easy to accept. Sometimes we have emotions we are not proud of, but they are real, all the same.The other lesson to be found in this story is whether we should live life, or stay safe. I find this to be kind of a repeating theme in Ms. Dahl's work, one with infinite possibilities for exploration. Do we avoid entaglements in order to keep our hearts safe, or do we live life all out, giving love and accepting we may be hurt by doing so?I loved this novella. I am a big fan of Victoria Dahl's work, and this offering is why. Her characters are so real, not perfect caricatures. Their lives and emotions are sometimes raw, sometimes messy, but always relatable. Her Tumble Creek trilogy is one of my all time favorites.Bottom line - Heartfelt and thought provoking. Time very well spent.