Comeback Love

Journalist Golden’s debut novel—originally published by Staff Picks Press in 2010—follows middle-aged Gordon Meyers, who, attempting to escape mysterious troubles, revisits New York City and his long-lost love, Glenna Rising, whom he met in the summer of ’68 when she was a med student and abortion rights activist. Gordon—then a wayward undergrad clinging to a draft deferment—and Glenna fell for one another and moved in together, but the consequences of the turbulent times and zealous ideologies soon tore the pair apart. Decades later in the present day, as the country is again in the midst of a drawn-out war, Gordon and Glenna look back and relive their brief but passionate relationship. Though the characters’ dialogue is often wooden, Gordon and Glenna have a credible chemistry, and their romance rises and falls with the familiar but engrossing tempo of reckless, youthful passion. It is unfortunate and distracting, then, that Golden (Quiet Diplomat) has his characters traipse from one watershed boomer moment to the next, less an authentic recollection of generational milestones (Woodstock, Vietnam, etc.) than a glib re-enactment. Agent: Susan Golomb, the Susan Golomb Agency. (Apr.)