LOVE AND OTHER IMPOSSIBLE PURSUITS by Ayelet Waldman

Reviewed by Heidi Immesberger

Ayelet Waldman’s Love and Other Impossible Pursuits is the engrossing and skillfully-written story of a woman who struggles to understand and to practice love in the aftermath of losing her infant daughter. In the months after her infant passed away, Emilia Greenleaf, an upper-class Manhattan attorney and the novel’s protagonist, struggles most to relate to her stepson, William. A bright and well-spoken five year old—perhaps unrealistically so—William challenges Emilia and places her in the line of fire of his intelligent, sophisticated, and angry ex-wife mother. The relationship between Carolyn and Emilia, carefully conducted through William and his father, Jack, is one of the best elements of Love and Other Impossible Pursuits.

Waldman has an uncanny ability to measure and adjust the tension and emotion in a group of people. She skillfully balances interpersonal history with the drama of the current moment, letting the reader have all the important facts and thus a complete understanding of the scenes. There are few surprises in this novel. Rather, the story is carried by Emilia and Williams’ adventures in and around Central Park; the ensuing refereeing between Jack and Carolyn, and Emilia’s escapes to friends and family. Emilia’s voice is sure and entertaining. She brilliantly describes scenes and settings, but the real strength of the narration is in Emilia’s self-awareness. She is at times self-pitying, at times funny, always genuine and forthright. Her narration makes Love and Other Impossible Pursuits a joy to read.