THE LOVE PROJECT

A veteran journalist explores love’s many forms through intimate conversations conducted in the small coastal town of Carmel, California.

Drawing on decades of experience asking deeply human questions during professional interviews, van Diggelen displays a gift for turning everyday encounters in her hometown into soulful moments of connection and learning. Each chapter unfolds as a conversation—sometimes playful and intimate, sometimes raw and vulnerable—in which ordinary lives reveal extraordinary reckonings with love, loss, desire, betrayal, grief, faith, aging, and resilience. The subjects come from diverse backgrounds and walks of life; they include a house cleaner from Peru (“Alicia sees cleaning as a gift of love in serving others”), a Syrian immigrant restaurateur (“You have to feelwith others”), a woman seduced by a death row prisoner (“I believed in his innocence”), and a trans woman who shines as a drag performer (“I enjoyed the attention on stage so much, I decided to take part myself”). Instead of building a prescriptive argument or larger narrative from these stories, the author illustrates the ways in which love is a lived and varied practice that is discovered and rediscovered, sustained through hardship, and expressed through art, music, caregiving, sexuality, ritual, and restraint. Van Diggelen weaves her own life experiences into these encounters, demonstrating how the love in our own lives can take new shapes when we listen and connect with our neighbors, friends, and even strangers. The backdrop of Carmel is the connective tissue in this book, serving as a reminder that profound human stories are quietly unfolding everywhere, just beyond our front doors. The author’s deeply absorbing prose honors the complexity of real, meaningful life stories, invites empathy for those around us, and affirms that love, with all its imperfections, remains a vital and animating force in our lives.

A warm tapestry of stories highlighting connection, community, and the courage it takes to live with an open heart.