The Years

If you enjoy realistic, honest novels that span several decades, you'll want to read "The Years" by Nicholas Delbanco. I don't often see late-in-life romances on bookstore shelves, or even through e-book listings; it's a subject which (I think) would appeal to a sizable group of avid readers. The author did a very good job of portraying Lawrence and Hermia as intelligent, interesting early seniors who decades earlier had a brief, intense romance. Much can happen and did happen over the course of 42 years in each of their separate lives. We meet them as the uncomfortable realities of aging--and best intentions of good friends--have brought them reluctantly to the Mediterranean for a cruise. On board are many other gray haired folks, mainly couples, and as they're each travelling alone, they each feel a bit out of place... until they recognize each other. Feelings from their long ago college romance are rekindled. Realistically. Delbanco doesn't sugar coat their reunion. I appreciated that. Nor does he sugar coat what unfolds after the cruise.

Yes, there are flashbacks inserted regarding their earlier romance and all the decades between, but I felt (for the most part) these transitions were written smoothly. Personally, I could have done without their explicit sexual encounters. Many readers won't have a problem with that. I also (at times, while reading) felt the political viewpoints were unnecessary to the story line, nor do I think it critical for a happy relationship that a couple be exactly on the same page. Again, that's a personal opinion; my husband is a Republican, I am not, and it hasn't been a huge issue in 30+ years. If you're a staunch Republican, you might not enjoy the novel as much as I did... or you can simply skim past the political portions of dialog. For those two reasons I'm rating this 4 instead of 5 stars. "The Years" is a good book that I'd recommend.

This book “The Years” by Nicholas Delbanco in a long novel about two people Lawrence and Hermia who met in college and while there they had a torrid affair. The novel starts out when they met again after forty years on a cruise ship in Italy. The rest of the long book goes back and forth with covering each of their lives as they lived got married and had children. This type of novel is boring to me although I did read it all the way through. I am not a fan of novels but when I want a book to read which is often I take what I can get..

I never did understand that they had any last name but I remember Hermia’s father was an artist and they summered on the cape in Massachusetts. Most families in this book were divorced and even Lawrence and Hermia were also divorced or had many marriages. When they met again on this cruise after 40 years Hermia was alone as her husband had long left her and her daughter also left her to follow those that needed help. Lawrence had married twice and had three children but was slowly reducing his work as a department head at Ann Arbor.

They kept in touch after returning from the cruise and Lawrence drove to The Cape to see Hermia over Thanksgiving and stayed. Hermia’s daughter was now living in California and was ready to get married and she invited them to come out for the wedding. In this book of 381 pages this author Nichoolas Delbanco covered every aspects of these two lives. I got upset at times when the story kept going back over other parts of their life. I have it when that happens so you have to get back into the other person’s life. I guess that is the way a novel weave their story together.

Nicholas Delbanco is a prolific writer as he has written 12 novels and 7 non-fiction, maybe I would enjoy one of his non-fiction books. I enjoy the true stories instead of fiction, the novels can be well written but it still is a made up story.

I really wanted to love this book, as the storyline intrigued me. The story is split into three sections, the present time of their meeting in their 60s, and then two parallel timelines of their separate lives after they split up in college. I loved the present time section...i felt the energy and was fully drawn into the story, but I couldn't get into the other sections, the writing and energy felt different, too logical, too matter of fact. It was a labor of love to read the whole book.

This was sweet. Every once it a while you read of a couple reunited after many years, and think, "It's nice to know first love can be rekindled.' First love rekindled is a little like love at first sight--the stuff of fairy tales and sentimental stories. Or perhaps I'm cynical. This story does deal with the changes that make it hard to rekindle old romances. It attempts to be realistic and romantic. It's a tale for older lovers, and as such, a refreshing change from the usual slam bam thank you ma'am beach read.

The story was just interesting enough to keep me reading. However, the author's style of writing was incredibly annoying. He constantly inserted parenthetical phrases into awkward places in the middle of sentences, to the point where it was jarring to read. For me, reading is always a pleasure, but reading this book was so less than pleasant. I will make sure I remember this author's name -- to ensure that I never buy a book written by him again.

This book seemed to me, to be more inclined to architects than anyone else. Great architect's names and what they were famous for took a lot of time out of this story that was unnecessary and boring. The two main characters had the normal college romance that ended quite some time ago. Then these two meet again, after 40 years of separation, on a Mediterranean smaller cruise, quite by accident. What are the odds of that happening after so long? They are both single and travel & tour alone, on this cruise to famous places and find their romance rekindling, but in a different way from their college days. This story then takes us through the rest of their years together, as they age & then pass away. It becomes a poignant novel halfway thru and it is easy to understand their love and how it had changed from their original one. I'm glad I stuck with this book to get half way thru it, as the writing is so much better in the second half than the beginning. I think this book will appeal to older people, rather than young readers. Since I am their older age, I could relate to a lot of parts where they describe their feelings for each other and their living arrangement. They do get married and it seems fitting that they felt it would solidify their relationship more. The little things meant more as they aged, which I find to be true. The ending caught me by surprise, even though it shouldn't have. I do feel that this is not an author that I will follow.

nicholas delbanco shares in his acknowledgements at the back of the book, his debt to A WINTER’S TALE, william shakespeare’s late play. in delbanco’s version, jealousy and magic play minor roles, while the pastoral romance genre is stretched to the edge of tedium, but with his handle on description and the minutiae of the simple life, delbanco has crafted a careful and beautifully told story of passages of life from university to careers to parenthood to aging.

a young man and woman meet and fall in love and are separated. the couple is known to us by their first names, lawrence, who becomes an architect, and hermia, who becomes a young divorcee and single mother, living off the trust fund from her father’s estate, her father a successful and famous artist. lawrence and hermia met in cambridge, while he attended harvard and she radcliffe. after a year together, they separated and forty years later, meet again by accident on a ship, cruising the mediterranean as tourists, and, still in love, resume their affair. we are introduced to them in the opening pages, shipboard, a man and woman in the sixties. during flashbacks, their stories are chronicled, of the man who leaves to conquer, and the woman who carries on the minimal duties of living, while enduring loss.

this is an old story, one readers familiar with homer’s odysseus and penelope, and garcia marquez’s couple in the pages of LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA, will recognize and enjoy.

Extremely Realistic!!
I enjoyed this book even though the ending was soberly realistic. I must say, I tend to enjoy more happier endings where everything ends "Happily ever After" and of course we know that this is not life all the time. Mr Delbanco did a fantastic job and I sincerely enjoyed reading this book.
I recommend The Years highly.
Thank You Mr Delbanco

Too long and very dreary.

This is a sweet senior citizen romance...(smiling). If you read a lot of the other reviews you are able to get the storyline that is that a romance is rekindled after many years apart. Romantically they meet again coincidentally on a Mediterranean cruise. The story alternates between the past and present. I enjoy this method a lot, especially in this case.
A sweet story, although sometimes predictably sad.
Enjoyable read though.