TLC Book Tours Review: Jamie M. Saul, The First Warm Evening of the Year

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I'm not sure what to say about this book.  The experience of reading it was often pleasurable, but not because of any characteristics that I usually find appealing in a book.  I couldn't really relate to the characters, the pacing was slow and plodding, and the language was not spectacular, and yet, I didn't ever want to abandon it.

The book tells the story of a man who has been asked to be the executor of an old friend's estate.  He hasn't seen his friend in years, but agrees to go to her small town to take care of her few things, and while he is there, he meets a woman named Marian, a friend of his old friend.  He is taken with Marian, although meeting her stands to disrupt his careful and quiet life that he has built for himself in New York City.

The book is about desire, and builds desire quite effectively in the reader.  There is also something slow and sensual about the prose itself, which is what I think is what makes the actual experience of reading the book so pleasant.  Although I didn't really feel compelled by the story, I felt compelled by the prose itself, which achieves extraordinary flow.  Although the book wasn't for me, I think the story might appeal to many readers.  It is a love story in the purest sense.

Check out the other reviews for the tour at the TLC website.  Thank you to TLC and the publisher for letting me read the book!

Title: The First Warm Evening of the Year

Author: Jamie M. Saul
Publisher: William Morrow
Date: 2012
Genre:Literary Fiction/ Romance

297  pages.
Where I got it: From the publisher and TLC BOOK TOURS
Challenges: None