Search - Losing Julia

Wonderful novel about the bonds of friendship and how one person can touch you in ways that no one else can.

I really enjoyed this book -- it's narrated in first person from an older man recalling a woman he first knew of through letters his best friend received from her on the battlefield in WWII. A very different love story. It's one of those books that I think of often and won't ever forget.

I truly enjoyed this one. It's passionate, it's tragic, it's wonderful. The author's description in the preface really piqued my interest (signed by Natalie): "Early on the morning of October 18,1980, in a clearing near a woods in eastern France, I found the body of an elderly American named Patrick Delaney slumped against a small granite monument that honors the names of 152 American soldiers who died on that date in 1918. On the ground next to him was a worn leather-bound diary, a pen, an empty glass and a bottle of Scotch dating from the 1920s, its label covered with signatures. This is his story. - Natalie, December 12, 1981, Paris"

This is my review: Patrick Delaney grows up in 1918 when he marches off to WWI. This story tells about his experiences, his friends, his loves and his family. His best friend is Daniel, who is in love with Julia. Patrick has not found the love of his life so he listens avidly to Daniel's memories about Julia. Gradually, he too, falls in love with this unusual woman who, like the war and friends he lost in it, remain with him his entire life. The war scenes are graphic and sad. Patrick's heart, like Daniel's, belongs to Julia. How does this wonderful story end? Find the answer yourself in Losing Julia.

GET OUT THE KLEENEX FOR THE END OF THIS ONE. WHAT A LOVE STORY. ALL OF US WISH THAT WE HAD THIS LOVE AT LEAST ONCE IN OUR LIVES. UNFORTUNATELY, IT ALSO GIVES ALL TOO GOOD A DESCRIPTION OF OUR FINAL DAYS. I DON'T LOOK FORWARD TO IT. I CAN'T BELIEVE SO MUCH ON SEVERAL DIFFERENT THEMES WAS INTERWOVEN INTO THIS BOOK AND THAT IT WORKED. I REALLY LIKED THIS BOOK.

"The nightmare of World War I, a brief interlude in Paris, losing friends and family, winding up in a nursing home with a failing body and a million memories: Patrick Delaney is the central character in this story of a man's life told in three time periods." ---Library Journal