"Once upon a time ...

... there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering." I first read this sweet quote when I saw the wedding program of blogger Joanna Goddard of A Cup of Jo.

Months later, I came across another quote from the same book at another wedding-related post from Miss Stripes of Weddingbee:

"For her I changed pebbles into diamonds, shoes into mirrors, I changed glass into water, I gave her wings and pulled birds from her ears and in her pockets she found the feathers, I asked a pear to become a pineapple, a pineapple to become a lightbulb, a lightbulb to become a moon, and the moon to become a coin I flipped for her love, both sides were heads: I knew I couldn't lose."

With such romantic writing and vivid imagery, paired with its intriguing title, The History of Love was a book that I kept in the back of my mind as something to check out when I had time to read for fun (summer). This novel by Nicole Krauss is about a lonely, elderly man named Leo Gursky who has loved only one woman, his childhood sweetheart Alma. As a young man, he wrote a book, also called The History of Love, inspired by Alma. However, he lost his love and his book decades ago. Unknown to him, though, Leo's novel has been published in a different country, in a different language, and under a different name.

One person whose life has been touched by Leo's book is 14-year-old Alma Singer, who was named after the book's character. Her mother longs for her late husband who died years ago, while her 11-year-old brother Bird thinks he's the Messiah. Young Alma's quest to find a man for her mother to love turns into a larger adventure to find out more about her namesake.

Each chapter shifts to a different narrator, mostly between Leo and Alma, and there are also chapters with third-person narration that provide the history of Leo's book. Readers also receive snippets of Leo's book throughout the novel, so it's like reading a story within a story. The characters have quirky, unique voices, and sometimes what they say makes you laugh, while other times you just feel for them.

At 252 pages, it's a fast read, but there are a lot of details packed into those pages. Plus with the different narrators and the non-linear storytelling, I became confused sometimes. However, I definitely want to re-read this book, taking my time this time, to really appreciate the writing and understand some parts of the story better. Plus, there were a few twists and turns, some of which I saw coming and some I didn't, so that's another reason to read it again.

Apparently, there's suppose to be a film adaptation of this novel. Director Alfonso Cuarón had bought the rights to it years ago. I wonder who will portray the characters, and I wonder how the film will turn out.