The Library of Unrequited Love

Book excerpt: El Pais called The Library of Unrequited Love "a thrilling soliloquy, an exciting breath of love." The librarian, a single, middle-aged woman, a sharply opinionated and thoughtful bookworm, whose ex-boyfriend left her for another woman, discovers one morning a patron who has been locked in over night. Against her quiet nature, she starts to talk to him, what results is a soliloquy of frustrations, observations, and anguish, covering--with wit, pathos, and passion--history, literature, the Dewey Decimal System, love, and loneliness, as well as revealing her unrequited passion for a quiet student-researcher named Martin, whose studiousness, grace, and "beautiful neck" strikes her. Divry's prose is seamless--never laborious--both funny and poignant. The book's compactness offers an immersive reading experience that touches universal emotional experiences from the perspective of a bookworm.