Lunchtime read: Strait is the Gate

After Alissa’s death Jerome is given her private papers and through the pages of the diary he gets to see the last few years through her eyes.

The moments when she denied him of her love are painful and extraordinarily difficult for her and at the final meeting she regrets their parting and years for him to come back. Of course by then too much damage has been done to make the relationship work and Jerome walks out of her life for the last time.

Years pass and he takes up the invitation to visit Alissa’s sister and they talk and Jerome expresses his belief that he will never be able to marry anyone because he still loves Alissa. At this Juliette takes him into a private room and questions him about if it is possible to love someone all your life and cries in the darkness revealing that despite the marriage to a farmer and five children she is still in love with Jerome.

This revelation at the end shows the dangerous consequences of love that Alissa in her own way tried so hard to avoid. She could not cope with the thought that someone would be hurt, either as a result of disappointment, or because of falling in love with someone else.

A review will follow soon…