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Inside The Cover
Book Reviews
Erica Miner’s Travels With My Lovers tells the story of one woman’s journey of self-discovery through five distinct periods in her life, each providing a glimpse into her evolving hopes, dreams and desires. Newly arrived in Florence, Italy, with her two young children in tow, her husband having begged off the trip at the last minute, we meet a young woman who is eager to explore her cultural roots. As a professional violinist and lover of opera, she is of course entranced by Italy, but unexpectedly also by Carlo, a young man she meets during her stay in Florence. Surrendering to her own needs for a change, her too-brief affair with Carlo is enough to sustain her through her return to the New York, and the unpleasant truth that awaits her. As the years pass, we meet this woman again and again. She returns to Paris a divorcee, and finds unexpected passion in a man she would never consider her type. Later trips take her to Switzerland, the Cote d’Azur, and the Caribbean. In each section of the book, our heroine meets a new love through which she is presented the opportunity to discover more about herself, and what she wants out of life. Cliché but true, the course of true love never did run smooth, and so naturally, neither do our heroine’s travels. From funny to frustrating and everything in between, Erica Miner’s Travels With My Lovers chronicles a woman’s sexual awakening with humor and wisdom. Miner’s descriptions of the settings of each of the woman’s travels, especially the European cities, countrysides and coastlines are very effective. Readers who have had the good fortune to travel in Europe will most certainly find themselves reminded of their own pleasant experiences, and readers who haven’t been will most certainly find themselves wistfully thinking about going. Miner does a great job of maintaining fluidity between the vignettes, keeping the passage of time between sections from becoming jarring or awkward. The persistent underlining of non-English words in the book (i.e. gelato, piazza, etc.), while making it clear the author is well-versed in the romance languages, is slightly distracting. For the first few pages, the reader may wonder if there’s something especially important about the underlined word or phrase, before realizing it’s a stylistic technique. Miner’s book maintains a tight focus on the main character. With her introspective narrative style and peripheral use of the woman’s friends and family, Miner is able to effectively maintain the attention of the reader on the main character throughout the book. The character development of each of the woman’s lovers reflect the emotional changes she undergoes over the course of several years. For readers who enjoy character-driven romance novels, Erica Miner’s Travels With My Lovers provides an unusual twist in that the reader has the pleasure of revisiting this character’s life over a period of several years to see if she ultimately finds love and happiness. Amy Brozio-Andrews is a freelance writer and book reviewer. She brings more than five years' experience as a readers' advisory librarian to her work, which is regularly published by Library Journal, The Imperfect Parent, and Absolute Write. Her reviews have also been published by The Absinthe Literary Review, ForeWord Magazine, January Magazine, and Melt Magazine. Amy is also the managing editor and an international markets columnist for Absolute Write. Visit her online at http://www.amyba.com. |
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Travels
With My Lovers
