I am so excited to share this novel, "Seduction" by M.J. Rose. I will post my review tomorrow but wanted to whet your appetite for this rich and textured novel which would be a perfect way to kick off your summer reading.
“Let us say in passing, to be blind and to be loved, is in
fact--on this earth where nothing is complete--one of the most strangely
exquisite forms of happiness. To have continually at your side a woman, a girl,
a sister, a charming being, who is there because you need her, and because she
cannot do without you, to know you are indispensable to someone necessary to
you, to be able at all times to measure her affection by the degree of the
presence that she gives you, and to say to yourself: She dedicates all her time
to me, because I possess her whole love; to see the thought if not the face; to
be sure of the fidelity of one being in a total eclipse of the world; to
imagine the rustling of her dress as the rustling of wings; to hear her moving
to and fro, going out, coming in, talking, singing, to think that you are the
cause of those steps, those words, that song; to show your personal attraction
at every moment; to feel even more powerful as your infirmity increases; to
become in darkness, and by reason of darkness, the star around which this angel
gravitates; few joys can equal that. The supreme happiness of life is the
conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves--say rather, loved in spite
of ourselves; the conviction the blind have. In their calamity, to be served is
to be caressed. Are they deprived of anything? No. Light is not lost where love
enters. And what a love! A love wholly founded in purity. There is no blindness
where there is certainty.”
My love
for my daughter is at the heart of this story. My delightful daughter. My
sunshine. I know every father says this, but she truly was special. Even in
this world she was visibly living a higher life. I had seen her soul. It had
touched me. In this world of misery, suffering and horrible injustice, Didine
was my own wonder, my own happiness. And in Jersey ,
she became my own madness.
After
someone you love so dearly dies, you are absent from the world for a time,
living only loss. The pain of existing without the other is too hard to bear.
Only slowly do you return to life. To being hungry, not just eating for
sustenance. To pouring a glass of good wine, not just drinking to quench a
thirst. To hearing the words of those around you and answering. To being
stirred into having indignation at the statesmen, at the clergy, at the
government. One returns slowly. And then one dawn as you watch the sun rise,
you realize your daughter is dead but you are still alive.
What I
didn’t know then was that an ache, as steadfast as my love, would remain. My
grief for Didine is a living thing. My longing to see her again has never
abated, never lessened. I never stopped yearning to hear her speak, to watch
her eyes fill with laughter, to feel her lean over my shoulder to read what I
am writing. Oh, if only I could just once more engage in conversation with my
daughter about my ideas—my ideas that were hers also.
To hear what other readers think about Seduction, here is the tour schedule.
Remember to come back to Bags, Books & Bon Jovi tomorrow to read my review.
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