Review: Tender and Sensitive Portrait of Love Between Two Opposites
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 28, 2014
“The Heart’s Melody” is a sensitive and moving portrait of a romance between two lovers who could not be more opposite—an Israeli Jewish woman in her fifties and a Palestinian Muslim in his late twenties.They meet in a self-help workshop called Mutual Advice, where a group of people come together to speak out their problems in something called a “session” and get “contradiction” from one other individual in the group as a way of re-casting and working through the issue. Noa has been brought to the group by her friend after divorce and in the wake of a failed love affair; Amar starts the same day. She is instantly drawn to him, though it’s against the rules, and soon they embark on an affair—it fills Noa with joy and creativity, but Amar is a young man and fickle, and he will carelessly break her heart more than once.I really enjoyed “The Heart’s Melody,” both as a portrait of forbidden love and as a portrait of a woman’s flowering into love long after she thought it could happen again. Noa is a sweet and creative woman—she paints, writes, and journals her dreams, and her artistic endeavors lend a feeling of magic to the book, especially when she explores possible reincarnations she might have had with Amar in past lives. (The author’s portraits which begin each chapter are also lovely, and help set the tone of the book). Amar is sensitive for a young man, but his first experiences with sex drive him into callousness; he is convincing both in his initial selfishness and his fear of commitment, both to Noa and others.“The Heart’s Melody” vividly brings the story of Noa and Amar to life, with both emotion and grace. Recommended to readers of contemporary fiction that deals with universal themes of art, self-awareness, and love, and to readers who enjoy protagonists from other cultures.