Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos

Love can be a daunting task to write about because it's not easily described into words but Marisa de los Santos does it beautifully, even majestically, in Love Walked In. I loved how it penetrated deep into my mind with its endearing and thoughtful scenes filled with words that added perspective and made me feel. I found it to be similar to watching a classic movie in black and white. It takes some effort to watch, for without the color, it can seem boring but as I pay attention, really listen, all the while really watching the actor's facial expressions and mannerisms then I simply use more of my senses in order to be transcended into where it really starts to live and takes on a whole new experience in your mind, i.e., to quote from the book:

If you have seen it then you know there's a moment when Katharine Hepburn as Tracy Lord steps from a poolside cabana. She's got a straight white dream of a dress hanging from her tiny collarbones, a dress fluted and precise as a Greek column but light and full of the motion of smoke. A paradox of a dress, a marriage of opposites that just makes your teeth hurt it's so exactly right.(pg. 6)

Two main voices, Cornelia and Clare, tell the story of this book from their refreshing perspectives in their respective chapters. I thought this was a nice touch and I really learned about them.
Cornelia works in a cafe, enjoying the people around her yet she is also searching, knowing it will happen, for change in her life. She loves classic movies, well-dressed men, poetry, and shining moments. I loved her lively descriptions of scenes around her, just like the old movies she endears, and loyalty to her friends and family.
Clare is eleven and under a lot of stress that should be unknown to her world but it isn't. Her life is complicated and she hides that fact as best as she is able in order to survive. To be honest, Clare tugged my heartstrings.
As their two lives begin to unravel, they also eventually intertwine, so I jumped to conclusions pondering what would happen next then I found that my conclusions were wrong. I feel this added to the whole reading experience and a learning lesson of how quickly judgments are made sometimes.
These two could be the only characters I cared about and it might be enough but they aren't and I wound up finding the whole cast memorable. Natural, warm-hearted, very flawed people that I may actually find in real life.
This is one book I'm glad to have taken my time and not rushed through it. Enchanting, really.

Two more of my favorite passages from Love Walked In:

There's a kind of tenderness that's only possible in the predawn hours, a blue-gray, lonely tenderness that comes from dim lights and sleepiness and immense quiet. A kind of tenderness and a kind of hope. I've always found it hard to feel angry in the half-hour before the sun comes up, ....(pg. 187)

Clare concentrated on the words, trying hard to press them into her memory and wishing they were solid objects that she could keep and carry around with her. (pg. 207)


307 pages, Dec. 2005, My rating: 4.5 stars

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Amanda