THE REINVENTION OF LOVE by Helen Humphreys - HISTORICAL FICTION NOVEL REVIEW

Published 2011, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd., ISBN 978-1-55468-443-4, 309 pages

Helen Humphrey's historical fiction novel, The Reinvention of Love, is the story of an illicit love affair between Adele Hugo, wife of Victor Hugo, and Charles Sainte-Beuve, a writer.

They meet when Sainte-Beuve writes a positive review of Victor Hugo's poetry and is invited to visit the Hugo home, situate on the same street as Sainte-Beuve.  In the beginning, Sainte-Beuve visits in the evenings when Victor is home and spends many a night listening to Victor pontificate about poetry and literature.  Adele is often a silent presence.

Soon Sainte-Beuve and Adele meet for innocent afternoon teas, but an irresistible love springs up and they begin to meet clandestinely.  Unable to control himself, Sainte-Beuve then commits a gaff which will haunt the love affair forever.

The first chapter of The Reinvention of Love displays a wit which I expected to enjoy for the remainder of this historical fiction novel.  Not so.  The Reinvention of Love rapidly declines into a pity-party by Sainte-Beuve, much like picking a scab so it never heals.  This is intensified by Sainte-Beuve's rare medical condition, a situation that contents Adele, but precludes traditional relationships.

The majority of the novel is told from Sainte-Beuve's point-of-view, interspersed with a few chapters devoted to Adele Hugo's point-of-view.  I quite frankly began to find him rather tiresome.

The promising start to The Reinvention of Love unfortunately does not carry through the novel.

Rating:  ** (Okay)