TWO LOVES

by Han Suyin ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

Two are brought together under this title -- and to both situations the author of A Many Thing has brought a sensitive understanding of the human heart. But, In different ways- both stories will fascinate some and shock others. Cast But One Shadow has used as a springboard an actual incident that was widely publicized at the time of its occurrence the court case about a Dutch child, brought up by an Indonesian woman, pledged in marriage to an Indonesian youth, then reclaimed by her Dutch family. Han Suyin has shifted the to a Cambodian village; she has made her child French-Indonesian, her village woman a Buddhist and the whole of her story taken on a Zen-Buddhist quality. Here is no court case but a brother. Philippe, his mind unhinged in its abnormal concentration on his lost and now dead sister, Sylvie- has sought, through a doctor friend, held from an astrologer in reclaiming Sylvie's past. Into the picture comes the foster mother, the son who was to have been the girl's husband, the distraught and bitter wife of Philippe -- and the recall of motivations, emotions, conflicting cultures surrounding the tragic story. The oblique way of telling it the long passages of philosophical interpretations-will for many cloud the central theme, and for others provide a measure of fascination...The second , Winter Love. Is a study of Lesbianism, compassionate but nonetheless clinical in its dissection. For the most part the story is viewed through the eyes of ""Red"" who is rarely hones in her assessment of her own problem, and- threatened with exposure-escapes into a loveless marriage, while Mara her own marriage destroyed- disappears. ""Red"" is always and has a always been afraid of ""being involved""- and yet has usually been the aggressor, until such time as her own safety-and happiness- is threatened. A victim to her temperament, she fails wholly to come to grips with its implications or to face up to its challenge. It provides an extraordinary foil for the first story, which by the way is scheduled for film release this fall.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1962

Categories: FICTION