Review: Loving Nate: A Love Story
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 19, 2014
Author Janice Ross shows her creativity as an author with "Loving Nate", a love story...with two very different endings. Why would a writer do something like that? Better to let Janice answer that question: (quote) " I've decided to provide two very different endings to this novella. Have you ever made a decision and wondered whether or not it was the right choice? Or perhaps you made the right choice because you knew that the alternative would've been disastrous? This is my gift to readers. Regardless of Leah's final choice, I wanted readers to be able to reflect on the possibilities."The plot of this story has been well described by others and I concur. As I said before, this is a love story. Love and romance, however, play a subordinate role to a larger issue in this story. The significant issue with this book is not the love story, but whether or not two alternative endings work as an authorial technique. Is it fair to the reader to have to think, to reflect, on which ending they prefer over the other?Before I answer that question, I want to refer to a famous short story, called,The Lady Or The Tigerby Frank Stockton. It's also a love story of sorts, an impossible love story, where in the end a gardener who has dared to love a princess must decide which of two doors he will open. Behind one door is a beautiful woman. If she is behind the door he opens, he will marry her. Behind the other is a ferocious tiger. If the tiger is behind the door he opens, the tiger will eat him. Which door to open is a decision that will determine if he lives, or if he dies. Let me quote Stockton here: (quote) "And so I leave it with all of you: Which came out of the opened door - the lady, or the tiger?" (end of quote)This story is realistic. We humans sometimes make choices, big decisions with our hearts, our emotions. Such decisions often turn out bad. At other times, we make rational, logical choices, after carefully weighing the alternatives. Those are usually good decisions. The key to this book, is whether or not you are willing to reflect on the consequences of both endings. If you are willing to do that, this book will have provided you with a lifetime of conversation material. If you don't like to reflect, and passively want the author to tell you what happens, then take either the first or second ending... Highly recommended for readers who don't like being told what to think.Reviewed by Thomas Jerome BakerAuthor ofHow to Coach A Debate TeamI received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.