Deconstructing Infatuation by Merce Cardus is a brief novel, slightly less than 150 pages. It’s a romance of sorts, in that it deals with the possible relationship between bookish Helen Hayes and dashing Tiziano Conti, an Italian visiting New York for the marathon. The book proposes to deconstruct infatuation through examining the relationship of two unlikely and radically different people.
Helen is a down-to-earth book editor working for a New York literary agency. She lives her routine and quiet life doing her job and seeing her sometimes-present boyfriend Mark until Tiziano disrupts her life by subletting her roommate Marleen’s bedroom during her absence.
Cardus is a good writer; she handles the relationship between Helen and Tiziano with some skill. The plot has some issues. The relationship between Helen and Tiziano seems to develop almost overnight with little build-up. The boyfriend Mark never really makes an appearance. His actual presence in the story would have made for a much richer romance. It’s easier to accept deception against someone not present.
I liked both Helen and Tiziano, but I might have found them more endearing if I had a clearer picture of their motivations. Helen is the stronger of the two characters and there’s more detail regarding her life. Tiziano could be any man. Cardus barely fleshes out his character. What does he do for a living? What’s his life like back in Florence? He doesn’t appear to be an athlete, but he’s come all the way from Florence to see the New York Marathon. Why? These and other questions made it hard for me to love Deconstructing Infatuation. Still, I think the book rates 3 stars for the skill of the author.
Stars:
Publisher: Create Space
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