Julie Buxbaum explores ' The Opposite of Love'

03/06/2009

 What would be your definition of the opposite of love?  Hate, dislike , loathing, or maybe detest ?

                    
For young Manhattan attorney Emily Haxby the answer is emptiness .
Emily’s world is falling apart – she has broken up with her boyfriend because she believes he is about to propose even though she really cares about him, her Mother died when she was a child, her father never has time for her, she refuses to believe that her much loved Grandpa Jack is becoming confused, at work she has been asked to defend a company that she believes is in the wrong  making her question her own values and to top it all her new boss’s only concern is to get her into his bed by fair means or foul.

 

The book opens with Emily chronicling the story of her life as a dedication to her, as yet ,unborn daughter. A child that will be named after Emily’s mother – the mother she never really knew . She wants her child to know about the person Emily was before she gave birth , the story of how she came to be . A story that explores a range of types of love – love for her boyfriend , parents , grandparents , friends  and herself .

 

Julie Buxbaum draws extensively on her own experiences including working as  an intern in the US Attorney’s office in Honolulu where she helped research a fake ID ring  - research that ( according to her website ) left her feeling hypocritical and guilty .

 

A straightforward quick, easy and enjoyable read. Not particularly outstanding in its genre  - for me the most memorable thing is probably that the author used the name of my village as Emily’s surname. I am not a great lover of American writers and on occasion I found some of the terminology a bit puzzling which interfered with the flow of the writing.

 

Having said that it is fine as a non taxing holiday read – or in my case a book to read whilst recovering from a broken ankle . Would I read another of her books ? With a huge pile of books that I have ordered from my local library sitting next to my bed waiting to be read the answer is probably no .

If you would like to find out more about Julie Buxbaum check out her website http://www.juliebuxbaum.com/index2.htm which gives information about her and the opportunity to read extracts from both this book and a second called “ After You “

 

Published in paperback by Bantam press in 2008 . ISBN  9780553818833

 

 

Reviewed by June Scatchard. 15th May 2009