I received my first book review from Kirkus Discoveries today. Overall, I think I can be pleased with it. When we are aware of our flaws, I think we are always expecting others to see them too, and “find us out.” I am aware of Table for Two’s imperfections, and made the decision that I was not going to worry and fret over them and thus never get the book into print. There came a day when I decided that it was time to move on, in spite of the fact I could have kept “fiddling” with it. Pacing, character development and plot are created and developed from nothing and go through a process of evolution. As one element of the story changes or evolves, all other elements take new shapes. It’s a challenging cycle to master.
Don’t get me wrong, I wanted the book to be perfect more than anything and have literally spent years rewriting and editing the story, but achieving perfection is like sculpting wet clay. One minute you have what you think is the best possible shape and then the next minute, you see you can have a better shape- and on and on it goes - always shaping and reshaping, never achieving satisfaction (and never getting the book into print!).
Now that it is in print, I can still turn to a page and find ways I could improve the story (though whenever I would sit down for a ruthless editing session these now apparent flaws would find clever ways to hide from me). I think I have to be okay with that, because I know, in my pursuit of perfection at the time, I was pushing my own limits. I also know that my next story will be even better.
Anyway, here is the review:
“Young love takes a beating, or at least a spirited whisking.
Aspiring chef Eric and Anna, a Welsh management intern, both 20, cross paths when she walks into the restaurant where he works. Soon after, they begin an affair beautifully and sensuously described by debut author Christopher. All is passion, playfulness and innocence, and the romance is fully developed with all the accompanying intimacies, joys and missteps. But all is not well. Eric’s confession that he fathered a child and gave it up for adoption disturbs Anna, whose childhood was hardly idyllic either. Abruptly, she announces, the first of many times, that she doesn’t want to see him anymore. Despite her misgivings, the two reconcile, marry and move to Eric’s home state of Oregon and later travel to Wales. But the relationship experiences serious bumps, and Eric returns alone to the States. Over six years, the two part and reunite, only to split again, throughout such diverse settings as the Pacific Northwest, Miami and New York. Whenever Anna calls or appears, Eric quickly caves, abandons his plans and puts his career at risk in the hope of recapturing the magic of their early days together. Their on-again, off-again relationship is so realistically portrayed that, after a few breakups, it becomes agonizingly predictable. Although Anna and Eric pursue their respective careers, they are never fully defined in their relationship to the world; at times both come off as painfully self-absorbed. But perhaps it’s relationship absorption, as if their true intercourse is a journey in and out of the youthful fantasy of love. The novel ends on an upbeat note, delivering a sense of relief that the ball lobbed back and forth between the two is at rest. Eric is left with a deep appreciation of his first great passion and recognition of the one with whom he will share a table for two.
A fine tale about the highlights and pitfalls of first love.”
