Pursuit: Love Songs of a Marriage Book 1 by Natalie Freedman
A young wife, whose husband is undergoing treatment for an incurable brain tumor, is befriended by a trio of nuns in a hospital waiting room. Thus begins a friendship that carries the love story of Valerie and Alex. “I fell madly in love with him in high school,” she tells Sister Agnes, “and I know that I love him even more now.”
In Pursuit: Love Songs of a Marriage Book 1, Natalie Freedman created an unusual narrative where Valerie tells the story of her and Alex’s love affair and marriage. Remembering that these are nuns she’s talking to, she edits out the sexy stuff, but Freedman puts in parentheses for her readers.
LEARNING THAT LOVE TAKES PATIENCE
It’s a sweet chronicle of teenage years in the 1950s, when innocence was charming, love was pure and sex was something you kept secret. Alex is sexually wise for his age (19), and Valerie is a naïve and vulnerable 16. The resulting relationship takes a while to get where Alex, confident and sure of himself, wants it to be, but patience wins out.
However, the young lovers aren’t content with stolen moments in motels. They want to be husband and wife and being so young isn’t the only thing getting in the way. Alex’s family has money while Valerie’s does not, and his mother is dead set against the marriage.
Valerie begins her story in the hospital waiting room where the sisters are waiting for their convent cook to get out of surgery, but a love story takes years to develop and hours to tell. So after Alex is released from the hospital, she continues her friendship with the sisters and Mrs. O’Dell. She meets them at a local café where Valerie can relive the romance — all the good days, all the tough stuff, every precious minute of falling in love with Alex, the ugly confrontations with his mother, the dreams, the fear, the joy. She’s happy to tell her story to the sisters and Mrs. O’Dell, who love hearing about her romance.
And Valerie’s story is romantic indeed. From Alex’s “coaching” in the bedroom to choosing the engagement ring to the wedding in the woods and the wedding at temple, a glorious tale of love conquers all.
A LOVE STORY THAT DOES NOT END HERE
Pursuit is filled with song lyrics and melodies, because both Alex and Valerie are theatre buffs. They sing to each other; they explore each other; they grow together. But no marriage is fairytale perfect, and navigating Alex’s diagnosis has its weary sadness. Their two young daughters keep them sane, but sometimes getting on with things gets in the way.
Readers may begin to anticipate Valerie’s story will veer off in a predictable direction, but it does not go that way. When the unexpected happens, readers will be happy that this book’s subtitle — Love Songs of a Marriage Book 1 — means that there will be more to come.
cooooool cute