The Lone Pilgrim

From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Margaret Liddiard

Laurie Colwin writes about relationships with the kind of clarity we might wish we possessed in the midst of them, but instead of being a cold observer, she takes us straight into the hearts of the characters she portrays with simplicity and sympathy. The women are serious, funny, sensitive, and smart. The men are charming and utterly irresistible cads or rangy men with large, tender hearts. All are complicated, interesting, and vivid people who work as illustrators, professors, architects, ranchers; all are steady, happy, untroubled - until their lives are completely undone by their hearts. Laurie Colwin's gift is her ability to capture pivotal moments: a young woman crosses to adulthood when she's kissed unexpectedly by her friend's father; a woman realizes her lover now hates her for all the things he fell in love with her for; a girl discovers to her horror that she's fallen in love with exactly the boy her parents wanted her to fall in love with; the "lone pilgrim" of the title story yearns for the settled life of her married friends, only to find herself hesitating on the brink of her desired happiness. In Laurie Colwin's deft but gentle hands, we see the subtle twists of relationships and know what awaits these lovers long before they do. In spite of the falls and bruises of love, the reader comes away happy, feeling that love and life are messy, but ultimately satisfying. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Book Description

A collection of stories about love and privacy that are serious, funny, tender, and alive with elegance and spirit. "Adroitly concocted."-- New York Times Book Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.