This is a book that follows characters who fall in love not necessarily at first sight but remain together for almost fifty years.
It is a warm book that cares for its characters and for their love, and what gives the emotion its force is the cleverness in which it is written.
The cleverness appears from the first line when an initial love is described, a love that is not the main one in the story.
The book describes a love that is not a fantasy but an everyday love of simple people living in towns and villages.
It is a book that respects its characters, presents them without pretension, and describes their lives through small and precise moments.
One example of the clever writing appears when a romantic and dramatic movie is described to highlight the gap between cinematic passion and the lives of the characters, who find themselves stuck in the middle of the road because of a lack of fuel.
This shows the difference between cinematic pathos and a simple but real life.
The book also uses gentle humor to show the relationship between the characters, such as the moment when one of them is unsure whether a positive result on a pregnancy test is good or bad.
Small details like these highlight the kindness that leads the story.
The book also deals with the subject of loyalty between partners.
A single act of infidelity is described, and later it becomes clear that one confession was perhaps said only to ease the other, not to hurt.
The book deepens into questions of trust, secrets, forgiveness, and a long term relationship.
It is a book that focuses on the lives of ordinary people and on a simple love that does not need grand drama to be meaningful.
It presents life in the provinces in a warm and respectful way, without kitsch, with a slight touch of intention that is barely noticeable.
