The Remedy for Love: A Novel - Softcover

Roorbach, Bill

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1616204788 ISBN 13: 9781616204785

Publisher: Algonquin Books, 2015

Synopsis

“A page-turner, a love story and a vivid drama of man (and woman) against the elements . . . A great read by a wonderful writer.” —Newsday When the “Storm of the Century” threatens western Maine, Eric closes his office early and heads to the grocery store. In line ahead of him, an unkempt and seemingly unstable young woman comes up short on cash, so Eric offers her twenty bucks and a ride home. Trouble is, Danielle doesn’t really have a home. She’s squatting in a cabin deep in the woods: no electricity, no plumbing, no heat. Eric, with problems of his own, tries to walk away, but finds he can’t. Fending off her mistrust of him, he gets her set up with food, water, and firewood, and departs with relief. But when he climbs back to the road, his car is gone, and in desperation he returns to the cabin. As the storm intensifies, these two lost souls are forced to wait it out together. Deeply moving, frequently funny, The Remedy for Love is a story about the secrets revealed when there is no time or space for anything but the truth. “A superbly grown-uplove story.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review “Brilliant . . . A tale that is as gripping as any Everest expedition--and that is also tender and terrifying and funny and, in the end, so true it seems inevitable.” —Peter Heller, author of The Dog Stars and The Painter “Roorbach . . . is at the top of his literary game here. He is masterful in inviting readers along, allowing them to slowly get to know these two strangers as they get to know one another.” —Portland (Maine) Press Herald “Snowbound in Maine, two strangers struggle to survive--fighting, flirting, baring secrets. Their sexy, snappy dialogue will keep you racing through.” —People “One of the best novels of this or any year . . . A flat-out funny, sexy, and poignant romantic thriller.” —David Abrams, author of Fobbit

About this title

Review

An Amazon Best Book of the Month, October 2014: Roorbach’s previous book, Life Among Giants, was an Amazon Best of the Month “spotlight” pick and one of my favorites of 2012. In The Remedy for Love, he again creates believably damaged, oddball characters: a buttoned-up, cuckolded small-town stud (Eric), and a bruised, half-starved mystery girl (Danielle). Eric is a lawyer. He does pro bono work. He’s separated from his wife. Danielle is... well, we’re not sure who she is. She looks homeless, but we soon catch glimpses of her “retractable beauty, like a cat’s claws.” Eric feels responsible for her somehow—“a moral tug.” So after buying her groceries, and carrying them to her cabin in the woods, Eric returns to the cabin as a snowstorm begins to shut the roads and blanket the town white. In no time, the two are locked inside as the snow piles higher. Cynical readers may need to make a leap of faith here. (I found myself once asking, “Really?”) Even Danielle seems freaked out by Eric’s irrational helpfulness. “Get the f**k out!” she screams at him. “You’re so nicey-nice, you f**king creeper.” The story then finds its theatrical groove, with crackling, smart dialogue that made me think Taylor-Burton in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe? (“I like when you call me Eric.” “Then I’ll stop.”) Within the chilled and claustrophobic confines of the cabin, as Danielle’s mysteries unfold and the storm outside rages, you think you know where things are headed, but how Roorbach gets us there is unexpected, sexy, and intense. Edgy and quite moving, the story stuck with me for many days. –Neal Thompson

From the Back Cover

“A flat-out funny, sexy, and poignant romantic thriller.”*

“One of the best novels of this or any year.” —*David Abrams, author of Fobbit

“A superbly grown-up love story . . . Another expertly delivered portrait of the world from Roorbach, that poet of hopeless tangles.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred, named toKirkus Reviews' Best Books of 2014

“The Remedy for Love is not the remedy for sleep deprivation. You’ll stay up all night . . . I’m not sure there’s another American writing today who can lay down a love story, or any story, with the depth and appeal and freshness of Bill Roorbach.” —Peter Heller, author of The Dog Stars and The Painter

Praise for Life Among Giants

“A bighearted, big-boned story . . . Life Among Giants reads like something written by a kinder, gentler John Irving . . . Roorbach is a humane and entertaining storyteller with a smooth, graceful style.” —The Washington Post

“Hilarious and heartbreaking, wild and wise, Bill Roorbach’s Life Among Giants, which is earning comparisons toThe World According to Garp, is a vivid
chronicle of a life lived large.” —Parade

“Consistently surprising and truly entertaining . . . Part thriller, part family drama,Life Among Giants is deliciously strange and deeply affecting.” —The Boston Globe

“A dizzy romp . . . Alive, electric and surprisingly dangerous.” —The New York Times Book Review

About this edition

• Publisher: Algonquin Books
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1616204788
• ISBN 13: 9781616204785
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320