This debut novel offers an intricate exploration of love, secrets, and emotional isolation, but its meandering narrative and introspective tone may not resonate with all readers. Set during the week of Dr. Agnes Stacey’s daughter’s wedding, the story unfolds through multiple perspectives, revealing the lives of eleven characters, each carrying their own unresolved tensions. Central to the plot is a long-hidden family secret, and a letter from Agnes’ mother, Sophie, which holds the key to understanding the emotional complexities of the characters.

While the novel contains some lyrical prose, the lack of clear character development and the heavy focus on introspection can make it difficult to stay engaged. The dialogue often feels disjointed, and readers may find themselves distracted by the lack of clear direction. The dense self-reflection and melancholic tone, though thoughtful, make the story feel slow and hard to follow at times, leading to a sense of emotional distance rather than connection. While Campbell’s writing is accomplished, the book’s introspective nature and the overwhelming focus on love’s regrets may leave some readers feeling lost and disconnected.

eARC was kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

As the title suggests this book does explore interpretations of love and it's amongst interesting characters. Other themes throughout the story include loss and betrayal. It kept me intrigued from beginning to end.

The story is told from the different view points of a few characters, which I really enjoyed.

I required a dictionary (I like to learn so this was fine) to read through a chapter but this prose seemed to dwindle as the story evolved. This did create some inconsistency of one of the characters even though it did become an easier read.

Thankyou to #netgalley for the free copy of #interpretationsoflove in exchange for an honest review.

gentle and soothing book about a whole bunch of characters, many of whom narrate the books (though it's rarely clear who when). 3.5

I'll admit, I started reading Interpretations of Love by Jane Campbell with a set of expectations that went out the window (in a good way) after the first few chapters. This book is written from a few different points of view and explores how secrets impact the lives of those we love and try to love.

Between tragic loss and the demands of every day life, Campbell focuses on the emotions that each character experiences in order to highlight how we all perceive and process them differently and deeply.

The dialogue is more internal and introspective and the overall feel of this novel is more literary.

I am thankful to have had the chance to read this ARC!

The book opens with the tragic death of Sophy and her husband in a car accident. Sophy leaves behind her daughter Agnes and a letter she wants her brother Malcom to deliver to Joe, a soldier she spent one night with during the war who unbeknownst to everyone is Agnes’ real father. Malcom never delivers the letter until Agnes is in her fifties. The story follows Malcom, Agnes and Joe and how their losses have influenced their lives and their choices. Parts were beautifully written and I loved the premise but the narrative was at times confusing piecing together who was with who. There is a lot of Freudian psychology in this book that I didn’t care for. For me this debut had some potential and was ok but had some flaws.

In this complicated novel about family secrets, Dr. Agnes Stacey’s daughter’s small family wedding is overshadowed by simmering tensions and family secrets. Agnes’s uncle, Professor Malcolm Miller, has kept a secret about her long-deceased parents since they died decades ago. Agnes’s former therapist, Dr. Joseph Bradshaw, has been privately obsessed with Agnes since he treated her and has had several relationships dissolved. Agnes herself is trying to leave a relationship at the wedding, which is held at her abusive ex-husband’s home. Alternating between these three struggling and isolated figures, the novel explores how and when one should reveal devastating secrets and personal failures and the consequences of growing up with parental figures who lived during World War II. All three characters are flawed and deeply human, and their struggles are personal and relatable. With a commentary on parenting and love and how they are affected by war, Campbell’s novel is incredibly emotional and challenging for the readers and the characters. While all three narrators have distinct personalities and struggles, they have quite a lot in common, though they themselves cannot see it. In a complex and powerful debut novel, Campbell really brings out the emotional heavy-hitters in this fascinating triple-perspective novel.

Stilted and formal, this book was a long read, even at 240 pages. Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Press for the complimentary digital ARC. This review is my own opinion.

What a wonderful book by Jane Campbell.. 4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️s. I absolutely loved it and will be giving a new Review once o have completed it. Thank you @netgalley and, Grove Atlantic Jane Campbell for this ARC.

EXCERPT: Agnes and I met in a small restaurant in the high street for lunch. She was looking, as women sometimes do when they are under stress, rather sleek and twitchy, like a beautiful greyhound. We ordered a couple of courses off the lunch menu and a pichet of red wine and began with the niceties, thank you for coming, a pleasure, how are you, etc., etc. Then she took the letter out of her handbag and placed it in front of me.
'I don't think you will recognise the handwriting,' she said. 'But this is from someone you knew once, written soon after the war.'
I could hear the tension in her voice. I guessed anger, and yet she was smiling at me, as though exhilarated and excited by what she was going to tell me. And at once, I knew what the letter was going to say.

ABOUT 'INTERPRETATIONS OF LOVE': It’s the week of Dr. Agnes Stacey’s only daughter’s wedding, and each of the eleven attendees of the small family gathering is bringing their own simmering tensions to the event. Agnes’ uncle, Professor Malcolm Miller, has harbored a family secret since her parents – his sister and brother-in-law – died in a car crash when she was a young girl. Dr. Joseph Bradshaw, who distantly married into the family, has nursed a secret obsession with Agnes since his brief stint as her therapist. Agnes herself will be returning to her ex-husband’s home for the first time, just as she’s trying to extricate herself from a potent love affair. Each of them has the tools to analyze the love lives of others, yet find themselves unable to recognize the love in their own lives. And though they’ve each muddled through painful years in emotional isolation, only Malcolm knows that the origins of their thwarted attachments all lie in the same English seaside town. Where better to lay bare the failures and secrets of one’s advancing age than at an intimate celebration of love?

MY THOUGHTS: The more I think about Interpretations of Love, the more I like what I have read. And I do think about it. Having finished it last night, I have been thinking about it most of the day, little moments of it coming to mind and causing me to smile. But how to express just why and how this pleases me?

There is a lot of absolutely beautiful and lyrical writing. There is also a lot of philosohising - at times rather too much so that it interrupts the flow of the story, but a lot of which is very relevant both to the novel itself and our own lives.

Several of the characters are psychotherapists, which I thought was going to be quite disastrous but is, in fact, quite entertaining. There is a lot of introspection, as one would expect, but I found most of it informative. Only occasionally was it bordering on intolerable.

The bones of this book are great - it is a complicated family situation that is kept hidden for many years, whether out of self-interest on the part of the secret-holder, or a belief that he is doing it for the peace of mind of those affected I'll not comment on. But this is the crux of the plot.

Interpretations of Love is a gentle book, intimately exploring love, bereavement, guilt, and a myriad of other emotions that add to the complexities of the relationships between the different characters. This is very much a character-based novel and the characters are expertly drawn. I particularly loved this description of Phyllis - a snub-nosed woman of seventy plus and the emotional life of a child of six.

One thing that irked me no end was that the story, being told from the perspectives of Malcolm, Agnes and Joe, gives no indication at the beginning of the lengthy chapters as to whose perspective you are reading. I would be blithely reading along thinking I was reading from the perspective of one character only to discover, several pages in, that it was the perspective of a different character entirely, necessitating me returning to the beginning of the chapter and starting again. I could have forgiven it happening once, but it happened with most chapters. As I read an ARC of Interpretations of Love, I hope that this is something that has been corrected in the published copy.

This is a story and a cast of characters that will stay with me for a long time. I will probably, after a little more reflection, upgrade the rating.

If you would like to read another sample of this book, I featured it on the Friday 56 on my WordPress blog. Here is the link https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

⭐⭐⭐.8

#InterpretationsofLove #NetGalley

THE AUTHOR: Jane Campbell is the celebrated octogenarian author of the “trail-blazing” (Oprah Daily) collection Cat Brushing. This is her debut novel.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Grove Atlantic via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of Interpretations of Love by Jane Campbell for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

The exploration of emotions, relationships, and how the story of a small group of people works even if they do not seem able to recognise how they are related and what are their emotions.
Great style of writing, not always easy to read but intriguing and fascinating. The characters are fleshed out and their emotions are expressed even if there's not a lot of dialogue.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

INTERPRETATIONS OF LOVE by Jane Campbell is a promising novel, the story of a wedding week during which three different people are challenged by their past and present relationships, triumphs, and failures. The promise of a story centering on Agnes, the mother of the bride, was solid, but was never fulfilled for me, in the structure of the novel weaving together strands of story from the uncle who concealed the truth of a woman's parents and life to another man who married into the family with his own baggage as Agnes' therapist, and Agnes herself, struggling to find love and a fulfilling life. It felt more literary exercise than a story to get involved in and enjoy reading. I abandoned it when it became apparent that the languid pace and slog was not going to get any better. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

The book begins with Malcolm Miller telling the story of the deaths of his sister and her husband and how their only daughter, Alice, was left behind. Agnes's mother gave Malcolm a letter before she died, asking her to give it to Dr. Joseph Bradshaw. It seems that Bradshaw is Agnes's father, conceived in a shelter on a night of bombing in London. In a strange twist of fate, Bradshaw becomes Agnes's therapist many years later, both of them unaware of the connection as Malcolm never passed on the letter. As all the characters converge for the daughter of Agnes's wedding, we hear the thoughts, fears, secrets, and doubts of each of them.

The writing here is brilliant. It is absolutely beautiful, and Campell can draw vivid scenes that resonate with the reader. However, the prose is thick with minimum dialogue, the emotion and angst are unending, and this reviewer found it difficult to keep up with which character was now telling the story. At times I felt as if I were just slogging through, but a few pages of my imagination were captured and I was again immersed in the story. This is a difficult one to review, but overall I did not enjoy it.

I was looking forward to reading this one but I just couldn't get into it and I must say I skipped and jumped through it a fair bit as it was far to slow and hit and miss for me. It is a good base for a good story but was just not a book for me. It didn't flow well and just needs a bit more work and editing to make it a better read.

Thank you NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

This is a cerebral novel with very little plot.

Professor Malcolm Miller has a letter he didn’t deliver 50 years earlier. It was written by his sister Sophy just before her death and that of her husband in a car accident which left their daughter Agnes an orphan. Agnes, now in her 50s, is returning to her ex-husband’s home for the first time to celebrate the wedding of their daughter. Malcolm decides this would be a good time to show the letter to his niece. Also present at the wedding is Dr. Joe Bradshaw, the intended recipient of Sophy’s letter. He was once Agnes’ therapist; from his first session with her, Joe felt an immediate attraction to Agnes. Agnes’ ex-husband’s second wife and Joe’s second wife are sisters, but the letter suggests that Agnes and Joe may be connected in a closer way.

The novel opens promisingly with an interesting premise. A wedding brings together family but there’s a long-held secret about to be revealed which will upend many lives. Unfortunately, the novel does not develop the potential conflicts; in fact, it is not until almost two-thirds into the book that the letter is finally given to Agnes by her uncle. Instead, we are given pages of interior monologues from Malcolm, Agnes, and Joe. The three characters, each in first person, ponder and ruminate and brood and deliberate and muse and meditate. Their endless introspections about their loves and losses become tedious.

This is not a light, easy read. There are lengthy paragraphs, sometimes pages long, with little dialogue. The prose is formal and elaborate, as befits the highly educated characters, but that erudite style requires the reader to pay serious attention. Discussions of psychoanalysts Freud and Jung and the philosopher Spinoza are frequent. These reflect the author’s educational and professional background, but references to Oedipal and Electra complexes might not be common knowledge to many readers. There is at times almost a textbook feel to the novel.

Though we are given intimate knowledge of the characters’ thoughts and feelings, I did not find them relatable. The formal language makes them feel remote, and they sound very similar so it is difficult to distinguish among them. We don’t see them living; we only read their thoughts about their lives, and their never-ending angst becomes mind-numbing. Malcolm is my favourite and I would have preferred more of him and less of Agnes and Joe, but generally I just felt indifferent about all of them.

The book examines the lasting effects of tragedy and loss. Both Agnes and Joe were orphans from an early age, and their losses have shaped their lives and relationships for the rest of their lives. Likewise, Malcolm’s life was deeply affected by the death of his sister. Though the three main characters have loved and been loved, all seem to be looking for the love they lost in their formative years. Early on there is mention made “that it is not so easy to keep the past back there where it belongs since it tends to leak into the present all the time. No matter how firmly you slam the watertight door and lock it and then throw the whole weight of your body against it in order to resist the monstrous pressure exerted on the other side by all those emotions from the past which you do no want to feel again you will fail and they will smash through and hurl you to the ground and then once more overwhelm you.”

This is not a light summer read. Its dense style with pages of character self-analysis and detailed descriptions will not appeal to anyone looking for an action-packed book. There’s also a melancholic atmosphere throughout. I can’t say I enjoyed the book; at times I considered not finishing it.

I think that the writing was beautiful, and I really wanted to be connecting to the characters, but ultimately this book was incredibly boring.

A bit of a challenge. Malcolm has never told his niece Agnes the truth about her parentage-never given her the letter her mother had written. Now it's all coming up all these years later. This is told from multiple points of view and regrettably, I think, with a great deal of internal analysis (and external as well as many of the characters are therpists). I wanted to like this more than I did but found it labored and the characters less engaging than they could have been. And somehow less emotional than the underlying plot should have been. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Over to others.

5 stars

I enjoyed this book. It took me a long time to get to pick it up and start reading but once I did it was a relatively a quick read. Professor Malcolm, an Oxford Don, has felt guilt over not passing on a letter his sister gave to him wrt her daughters father. It's been fifty years. His neice has had problems of her own and has sort out help from a therapist. The Therapist has issues of his own as like Agnes he lost his mother at a young age. Joe, the therapist, feels drawn to Agnes and we learn about his complicated love life and current romantic situation. Agnes has had quite a bit of trauma to sort through. I think there are many layers to this book and believe its worth trying. Don't expect car chases but a slower description of people's inner lives. The ending is poignant.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

Thank you to NetGalley, Grove Press and Jane Campbell for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of Interpretations of Love.
This is a beautifully written story about secrets, misunderstandings and family dynamics. The rich vocabulary is outstanding but gets in the way of the basics of the storyline. I needed shorter chapters and more dialogue to help me get fully invested in the plot. Each chapter was written in first person. I found it hard to keep straight who was talking and describing their thoughts. If I started reading the middle of a chapter, I was lost for a bit until I could figure out who and what was going on. The characters needed more depth and I found they had some unlikeable traits. Especially infidelity and lack of respect hindered my attachment to them. I guess this is the way people behave. I enjoyed this story and these opinions are strictly my own.

Love, loss, regret. An uncle who withholds a secret/information from his niece that, once shared, alters everything. This book was a bit confusing at times and is rather melancholy. Not a favorite, but I appreciate NetGalley and the publisher for access to this eARC.

The story explores how loss and tragedy shapes people, especially with respect to their future relationships, and their capacity to experience and show love. The overarching story focuses on Malcolm and Agnes, uncle and niece, and how a decision by Malcolm to withhold information following the unexpected death of his sister (Sophy, Agnes' mother) and her husband, will alter their lives and the lives of others. The story also explores the interconnections between people, as friendships, family relationships, and romantic relationships will bring the various characters together and break some of them apart or rearrange them into new combinations. The story deals with finding closure, and how well-intentioned actions by people can delay the finding of closure by others.