I loved The Shoemaker’s Wife. It’s long, romantic, and transports you to the Italian Alps and New York City in the 1890s—a very exciting and interesting time of American History, at least in my opinion. I came across the passage above and thought it was such a beautiful description of love and commitment.
Enza is contemplating love and marriage on her wedding night as she and her new husband, Ciro, move from all they’ve known of America—New York City—to Minnesota where they start their new life together. What would be a scary and unstable time is only pure and wonderful because of the “practical and durable” love they have for each other. The excerpt was getting too long, so I didn’t include the next part in the graphic above, but I wanted to post it here anyway.
“There was something constant and reliable about Ciro Lazzari. He made her feel no harm would come to her as long as she loved him.”
I like the way Enza described her love as “practical” and something that gets “lovelier with age”. Not to get too sappy, (forgive me, you know I’m getting married in a couple months), but this is how I knew I loved M. This is what separated it from other crushes or boyfriends.
Do any of you feel this way? Do you understand, like me, the kind of love Enza is feeling here?
