The new novel by André Aciman, which New York Magazine has called "the most remarkable new author of fiction in the 21st century," maps the love life of a hero who experiences love in adulthood with the same intensity and passion as in adolescence. It follows his boyish infatuation with a carpenter from an Italian fishing village, his obsession with a young man he meets on a tennis court in Central Park, and his passionate occasional meetings with a married woman. In his fourth book, the author again explores all the mysterious manifestations and aspects of love to describe how we suffer, yearn, and hesitate. He questions why we sometimes let go of those we desire the most. Notably, the title was inspired by a piece by Edward Elgar, consisting of fourteen short musical portraits of the composer's friends.
