Loving Zelda

This beautifully written novel explores the emotional pain and damage inflicted on a writer and his relationship with the woman he loves as she struggles with manic-depression. Through almost ten years of hardship he loves and cares for her with unwavering devotion, but when she marries another man he becomes a recluse on his sailboat, waiting for a chance to be together again in this or any world. It would be reasonable to think that a solid familiarity with DeMott's body of work would prepare a reader for the depth, grace, honesty and devotion of Loving Zelda, since DeMott's protagonists are always wonderfully drawn people of strong convictions and deep passions. But DeMott outdoes himself in Loving Zelda by creating a literary story of such selfless love, hope, commitment, and joy that this wonderful little book almost needs to be savored in the small doses prompted by the need for an emotional recess, and perhaps Kleenex. DeMott is best known for his thrillers. Some of those are violent. But to read Loving Zelda is to discover a totally different side of DeMott, a beautiful, tender and vulnerable side that, according to interviews, DeMott never plans to expose again.