53 pages • 1 hour read
The History of Love
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Summary and Study Guide
Overview
The History of Love (2005) is a novel by American writer Nicole Krauss. The book, Krauss’s second novel, was awarded the 2008 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing and was a finalist for the 2006 Orange Prize for Fiction. It is a novel about the intersection of love, loneliness, language, and literature, as three characters are connected by a mysterious book called The History of Love. The novel plays with postmodern techniques like fragmentation and creative typography.
This study guide references the 2006 Norton paperback edition of the novel.
Plot Summary
The History of Love comprises three simultaneous stories interweaving as the plot progresses.
Leopold Gursky, who goes by Leo, grows up in Poland before World War II. As a boy, Leo is an aspiring writer and falls in love with his neighbor, Alma Mereminski. The two share a passionate romance but are separated when Alma leaves for America to escape the threat of war. Neither of them knows that she is pregnant with Leo’s baby. Leo begins writing a book, The History of Love, inspired by his love of Alma. He copies out chapters that he mails to her but never receives a response.
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By Nicole Krauss
