Executive summary: tough love.
OK, we’re not all executives…
Celeste works for Medicines san Frontière, and though she has seen more heartbreak than most people, nothing has prepared her for meeting Amy, her brother’s fiancé. They fall in love with one another, but given the situation, both of them try to deny what is happening to them.
Given my own preferences for ‘happy stories’, it is rather surprising that I could not stop reading, because the author takes the two main characters to the point where one wonders if life is actually worth living. It is, perhaps, because of the depth of the psychological insight into the two, or even the insight into what may turn denial into a really serious condition.
To boot: if this were a movie, the character Colin would be a hot candidate for an Oscar for the best supporting act. It is amazing how (apparently) effortlessly the author creates roundness for Colin.
The story covers quite a few years, making some jumps forward in time necessary; I would have appreciated some sort of visual alert (like a double-spaced paragraph, e.g.) to that, instead of reading into the next part before sort of having to backtrack.
Overall, the editing is rather negligent, making for a somewhat bumpy reading; the story is, however, worth the effort.
If you can stand a lot of desperation, give this one a try.