This Is a Love Story: A Read with Jenna Pick

This Is a Love Story by @jessicasoffer absolutely wrecked me—in the best way possible. It’s one of those books that doesn’t just tell a love story; it makes you feel every single moment of it. I laughed, I sighed, and, yeah… I cried. More than once.Soffer’s writing is stunning—lyrical but never overdone, raw but never heavy-handed. She captures the nuances of love in such an honest, heartbreaking way, from the quiet joys to the devastating losses. It’s not just about romance; it’s about the relationships that shape us, the ones that leave marks permanently etched in our lives.This book is a beautiful portrait of life… all centered around Central Park NYC. Yes it is a love story but love here isn’t some perfect, effortless thing—it’s messy, complicated, full of misunderstandings, longing, and those small, everyday moments that somehow mean everything. The heartbreaks hurt, deeply, but the highs are the strength that carries us through. That balance is what makes this book so special.I found myself highlighting so many lines—those little truths that feel like they were written just for you. It’s the kind of book that stays with you, one I know I’ll return to again and again. Because This Is a Love Story isn’t just another love story. It’s the love story—one that reminds you how beautiful, painful, and utterly necessary love is.If there is one book to read this year… this is it.

I agree totally with Donna's review. The style is NOT the style of storytelling, and it is very hard to stay with this book -- or want to stay with it! I read a mixture of fiction and nonfiction; and can enjoy many different kinds of writing -- but, this felt like a waste of time.

A husband, a wife, a son and other relatives, all coming together to make life work. So many descriptions of endearing thoughts and wishes. Temptation has to come but in the end love prevails.

If I could only take five or ten books with me to the proverbial desert island (with no WiFi), this would be one of them. Fabulous book, gorgeous writing.

This is a very well done book chronicling the course of one couple’s relationship. Very realistic and reflective. I was hoping for something a little more upbeat but that’s on me.

Jane, a beloved wife, artist, and mother is dying, exiting this world having battled cancer again and again defeating it her way through her art. A lover of Central Park, Jane and her husband and son Max have treasured all the park has given, has represented, and has endured. So, not surprisingly, all of the members of her family experience quiet reflections within this park.At times the book unfolds in a narrative stream of consciousness that works, and other times it stalls, loops, repeats, lurches, and misses. Long passages from a love-struck student of Jane’s husband who has become a celebrated writer, seem distracting, without purpose.Max, the son, a commodity merchant of arts, arts he seems at times to resent and hate, rambles in his narratives, negative and lonely, misanthropic.A love story less about individuals, and more about places in time, moments, and arts, this novel seems to heart break, heart ache, and hear beat.

Very hard to read. Too descriptive.

April 25, 2025I opened this novel with no expectations except that it looked like a good palette cleanser, or beach read. Was I ever wrong! This is a serious book of literary fiction; poetic, insightful, with great characterizations. Much of its meaning comes from what is implied or not written as the author guides the reader without being obtrusively directive. I believe it will be on my top ten list for 2025.Abe and Jane have had a long marriage. It's had ups and downs but their love has weathered all the years and circumstances. Jane is a renowned artist and Abe is a famous writer. They have a son named Max, and Jane, who suffered postpartum depression, mourns the relationship she's had with her son and wonders what could have been if the situation had been different.Max is brilliant but there is nothing he really cares about except bedding all the women he can, being a dandy, and making a lot of money. He has nothing against his parents but his bond with them is rather thin. His 'person' growing up was his bubbe, his paternal grandmother.The novel is told from various points of view which give it a broad brush stroke. Abe worships Jane and believes there is nothing she cannot make or do. Jane's obsession with creating art is foremost for her. Abe says of Jane, "Art built this house, I think. Art and your vim."This novel is an homage to fine art and words. "And so you wonder, which came first? Character or the invention of character? What would watching the snowfall look like without the words? Without the writing and all the sunlight it casts?"Not only do we have the POV's of the three protagonists, we also get the POV of Central Park. This novel will resonate best with those familiar with Manhattan and its glorious artistic and cultural gifts."This is a Love Story" was chosen as a 'Read with Jenna' book. I tend to avoid books chosen by celebrities but I am grateful that I followed my gut and read this one. What a gift.

Rather heavy, sad, imperfect the way life can be. Interesting how it came full circle in Central Park. Much to ponder…

I won this book from Goodreads after reading I am to review. This book is about a couple Abe and Jane. They are married fifty years. Jane has cancer most of the book is about the memories they have made during the time of marriage.

Wow! It was hard to get into at first because burial very detailed and specific. But I really cannot enjoy the author’s style of writing and the way the story was told.It is such a beautiful story of a family. Certainly, of Central Park as well. There are many takeaways from this book. I have been married for 30 years. This book made me so much more grateful and appreciative for the life I have.

What a beautiful love story, full of the hopes, expectations, disappointments, highs and debilitating lows that we all experience in relationships. The book is written as a series of memories, which I had to get used to because I was expecting it to be written in a more typical narrative style. But the book does a wonderful job of depicting the good, bad and challenging parts of the relationship between Abe and Jane, a married couple who love each other but love their careers too, Jane is an artist who works in multiple mediums, and Abe, who is a writer. Jane relationship with Abe is beautiful but challenging and she has a complicated relationship with her son Max, who she loves but struggles to have an emotional connection with, particularly as she struggled with horrific postpartum depression. Jane is her most authentic self, the most deeply in love and the most free when she is creating art. Through out the book she struggles with can she love Abe and Max the way she loves her art and should she even try to, because as much as she loves her husband and son, art feeds her spirit in a way that the can’t. Abe tries his best to love Jane and meet all her needs but also realizes that he can’t. What is also different about this book is the central characters relationship with Central Park, they also have a love affair with the park. The end is sad but beautiful.

It takes a while to get into this book due to its writing style. I nearly didn’t finish it but I am glad I did. Abe’s love for Jane was heartwarming and breaking at the same time.

Every sentence in this book is a marvel. Jess Sopher is a miracle of a storyteller - wise, gentle, and funny. Not sure how she did it: this is a quiet gem of a book but also has the page-turning sense of expectation of a good, absorbing read. I found I actually had to slow myself down so I could savor each page.What a gift this book is!

This love story is a beautiful, sad, raw, story about relationships. Marriage, mother and baby, mother, father, and adult child, child and grandparent. The relationships aren't romanticized, they're real, you'll feel a connection to the characters and relationships. I loved the story but I didn't enjoy the style in which it was written. At first I thought I just needed to get used to it, but as I read on I disliked it more and more.

I found this book to be a one of a kind description of the huge scale of life, memory and emotion. And of New York City. From great detail to the fuzziness of memories, it felt true to its characters and relatable to living life across time as an individual and together. I loved it!

I'll keep this short and sweet: it's all in the title, yes. But it's better than that. It's the story of a marriage, a real marriage. And, even better, it's a love letter to New York City from an author who has its atoms in her bones. Beautifully written, settle down with a cup -- no a pot -- of tea and let Jessica Soffer take the wheel for a few hours. It will be an experience you'll never replicate.

The title caught my attention as did the write up about an aging couple revisiting their past with Central Park as the backdrop. First couple of chapters were interesting using a different writing style I’m not aware of. I was hoping it wouldn’t be the same with subsequent chapters. It was. Not a fan of this style of writing. Hard to read and feel connected. Returning book. First for me. Sorry Author.

This book is both dearly familiar and utterly original. Comforting, reassuring, and still manages to spark all kinds of ideas about loyalty and love in the long-term. You won't be able to put it down. And after you're finished, you'll want to recommend it to everyone you know.

There should be a special category for books that destroy you. THIS IS A LOVE STORY would be awarded a place of honor in that classification. A gentle, intimate, and, at times, poetic glimpse into the lives of a long married couple, Jessica Soffer had gifted us with a truly beautiful book.Abe and Jane have shared a life and raised a son. Many of the important moments of their lives, both ordinary and extraordinary, have taken place against the backdrop of New York’s famed Central Park. Jane is dying; her body ravaged by cancer, prompting reflection and remembrance.Told through multiple points of view, including that of Central Park itself, we are given a window into the moments that make a life. There is joy and despair, courage and avoidance, strength and frailty. I was mesmerized by the simple beauty of the words used to paint a picture that captivated my heart. I literally felt every word of this book - not a single word was wasted.It is fortunate that I augmented my physical copy with the audiobook. Marin Ireland is an absolute goddess. Her voice carried me through the final chapters of this book when I was unable to read the words through my tears.