“Captivating love story”
“Wonderful love story of love lost and found again. I really enjoyed it!”
- sac
“Unpredictable and beautiful romance”
“Here is a mystery, so tempting, I wanted to go straight to the end for answers, but this isn’t that kind of book. The mystery is wrapped in beautiful prose, and revealed slowly, bit by juicy bit. I wanted to read it over time, but found myself diving in, and devouring it over a weekend, because it is that kind of book.”
- Mino
“ROUNDABOUT astonished me”
“If you still believe in love and know that love never dies despite the hurt we put on it with all our fears and resentments... If you want to be whisked around from South Africa to Manhattan, Brooklyn, Long Island and LA and meet intriguing characters in beautifully described enticing places... If you want to be up close with souls that live and lust and hurt fully and grow from fifty years of all that...then orderROUNDABOUT, a novel by Elaine Durbach who has astonished me with the level of her art, insight and talent. You’ll like this one. (No you can’t borrow it. I’m keeping my copy for re-reading)”
- William Lannigan
“A gem”
“Spanning several decades and across two continents, this was an intricate tale of a mature couple finally coming together after many unpredictable twists and turns. It deals with fear, forgiveness, trust, and coming to terms with one’s past. The book kept me company over breakfast and lunch over a couple of weeks and was a pure joy. Thanks Elaine, and keep them coming!”
- WB
“A great read, rich with detail and emotion”
“A beautifully written love story. Two people, two countries, many missed opportunities and a magnificent coming together. That a wonderful love story, so beautifully written. Your book has kept me company today as I lay on the couch, sun streaming in and your characters in my mind through the pages. Thank you, thank you for this gift. One day they’ll make a film of it.”
- Avid Reader
“It’s the best love story I’ve read in many a year.”
“In this case, it is a relatively simple situation-a woman wakes to find the love of her life dead beside her in bed. She then spends the first weeks of her loneliness keeping a stiff upper lip, getting through her anger with something akin to humor- and then, as she begins to clear the house in order to sell it and give the proceeds to her lover’s adult children, she gets caught in the web of memories. Gradually we discover what is special and particular about those memories. It turns out that Sally Paddington and Felix Barnard, both white South Africans, have lived much of their lives in the United States. They have also known for decades that each was the other’s most passionate and fitting love. Yet their lives and some stubborn refusing part of each of them has kept them from being together. They’e both had spouses, two for Felix, with a child from each, and Sally was married once, and lost a baby of uncertain parentage. They’ve both had professional success, and they come together occasionally--finally, in late middle age, to live together permanently till death separates them. It’s a fascinating premise, the missed opportunities, the continuing passion, the late-life joining--not shocking or edgy, but very real. The longer I read, the more bits and pieces of the story that came to light, the more explanations and revealed motivations, the more intensely I felt for Sally and Felix. Especially after Felix’s daughter Joanie comes to the house to be with Sally, there is a gathering intensity that lights up the novel’s world as Sally learns a final few important things about Felix and at last admits how deeply she’ll miss him-and how much he has enhanced her life. It’s the best love story I’ve read in many a year.”
- Meredith Sue Willis, Books for Readers #207
“Beautifully, gently, compassionately written”
“A beautifully written love story. Two people, two countries, many missed opportunities and a magnificent coming together. That a wonderful love story, so beautifully written. Your book has kept me company today as I lay on the couch, sun streaming in and your characters in my mind through the pages. Thank you, thank you for this gift. One day they’ll make a film of it.”
- Avid Reader
“Great read”
“I would venture a guess that many people know a couple like Felix and Sally. They met and fall in love in college, plan a future but life has a funny way of interfering. Fast forward to the present where they are reunited and happy. Felix dies unexpectedly and Sally is left to figure out what to do with the rest of her life. The next phase of her new existence begins when Sally goes through notebooks and photos Felix compiled chronicling his life during the years they were separated. The bulk of the story are Sally’s remembrances of life before, during and after Felix. There’s a lot of pain in here- this book gave me all the feels- but that’s balanced by all the joy in discovering that life can still be good after a loss. What I especially loved about this is Ms. Durbach’s understanding of all the manifestations of grief and the difficult, tricky road to a new normal . I loved this.”
- Carmela Devito
“Brilliant Capture of The Intricacies of Love”
“This book captivated me, not only because I was at Rhodes with the author (well done, Elaine!), but perhaps because I absolutely related to the twists and turns and ups and downs of ‘love at first sight’ and its oft-times volatile and unpredictable, aftermath; the effects of ‘settling’ for less and the regrets. Brought me to tears at the end - this is so well written.”
- Linda Ihle
“Rich but easy to read novel about complex relationships”
“This novel really gets how romances and encounters that occur when we’re young continue to resonate with us as we age as well as how we to view them differently as we understand more about someone over time. It’s intelligently written and delicately plotted, but its also a smooth, not intimidating read. I’d recommend it for a rainy day in or vacation.”
- mih2108
“Great book”
“This book is a great read and develops the rollercoaster of emotions after losing a loved one and finding oneself. It was hard to put down!”
- Amazon Customer
“A different kind of love story”
“I’m not a big fan of love stories, but this one absolutely drew me in. The story begins at the end – with Felix’s sudden, unexpected death. Sally is left behind, and the author makes us feel that raw, anguished mixture of disbelief, hopelessness and grief that follows such a fundamental loss from the first sentence. For Sally, the end is the beginning of a journey into the unknown, while reviewing the past. Coming to terms with it will ultimately open the path to living the future. Gradually, the story of Sally and Felix’ love unfolds. They have known each other for a lifetime, but in spite of the initial resonance they both felt as young college students, their love didn’t find fulfillment in living together until these final five years, late in life. With the skill of a mystery writer, Elaine Durbach weaves together the present and the past, the inside and the outside, as Sally reviews the incidents that brought Felix and her together and kept them apart, their love simmering all the while. The author’s sensitive writing reveals a deep understanding of the subtle workings of the minds and emotions of the characters. It keeps the reader engaged and eager to find out more at every step of the way.”
- Birgit Matzerath
“A great read, rich with detail and emotion”
“Meant to be. Right person, wrong time. So many of us live day to day wondering which of these categories our relationships fall into...including Sally and Felix, the fictional, relatable characters in Elaine Durbach’s debut novel, Roundabout . The story attaches identities to the concepts of ‘meant to be’ and ‘right person, wrong time’ and gives us the opportunity to examine them through the lens of time. It opens with the death of Felix, now an older man, which pushes his widow, Sally, into a reflective state. We travel back in time to when Sally and Felix first met on the registration line at the college they both attended, and set off on a series of twists and turns in the form of conflict, separation, marriages to other people, chance encounters, and other surprises along the way. The rich writing captures not only Sally’s memories, thoughts, and different tangents she goes off on, all of which add to the story and make it more real, but also the charm of the cottage where Sally and Felix lived, the rugged beauty of South Africa, where a good portion of this story takes place, the grittiness of New York City, and other pitstops along this very insightful ‘roundabout’”
- Amazon Customer
“My friend wrote this and I’m proud of her”
“This book is engaging from cover to cover. The characters are immediately appealing and I cared about them and what they thought and did. It’s complex, easy to read and surprisingly sexy...a nice bonus. Real relating of humans described and fleshed out by this bright and warm author. Again I’m proud of my friend for writing an unexpected gem like this.”
- A. Gardenshire