To Be Sung Under Water - Tom McNeal

To Be Sung Under Water

Tom McNeal

Abacus

The first time we fall in love, lasts forever.

Love is complex. It can uplift spirits and it can bring them crashing to the ground. Traversing between Vermont and Nebraska where her parents have separated to, Judith meets and falls in love with Willy Blunt. They separate, promising to wait for one another when she leaves for college. But now Judith is introduced to a different world and has new sets of friend. She meets Malcolm and consciously starts to let go of her past; starts to let go of Willy and the promises she made him.

In her mid-forties, Judith is living in California. She is married to Malcolm and together they have an intelligent teenage daughter. In her career, she's a successful film editor and puts in long hours to meet deadlines. By all counts, Judith has everything a modern career woman aspires to in the 21st-century. But Judith is not happy. She suspects her husband is having an affair; her daughter behaves distant and she feels threatened by the new breed of ambitious editors gunning for her job. As Judith becomes more disillusioned with her life, her thoughts return to happier days. And to Willy Blunt. At this point the author raises the philosophical question: if you had the chance to reunite with your first love, would you do it?

For Judith it means returning to Nebraska and track down Willy Blunt. She discovers Willy shrunken by life. Married with two sons, he has never forgotten Judith. Alone in the log cabin he has built, he confesses to her these poignant words.

For you, I was a chapter-a good chapter, maybe, or even your favorite chapter, but still, just a chapter-and for me, you were the book.

Although To Be Sung Under Water has all the ingredients of a sweet and tender love story, and although McNeal's writing is staggering, I could not find myself being drawn to the story or the characters. I understand that there are loves that never leave our hearts; feelings that no amount of time or distance can erode. But I failed to understand Judith. She has a comfortable life. Her suspicions over her husband's infidelity are unfounded and her relationship with her daughter can be resolved if she spends less time holing herself in her past and more time with her.

I had high expectations from To Be Sung Under Water. I really hoped to fall in love, to swoon, to be heart sick over the unrequited love. But in the end, the story failed to connect. 3 stars