"Exceptional…The Romantic is an old story-the basic drama of human relationships beautifully told."...Daily Telegraph.
When ex-beauty queen Helen Kirk leaves her husband, she takes her pageant crowns with her but not her daughter Louise. Abandoned and lonely, the romantic 10-year-old becomes obsessed by her new neighbours, first Mrs Richter, then her son Abel. Louise has found her one true love but there is one preblem: has Abel found his?
"Gowdy delicately draws the narrator's haunting relationship with a still and gentle alcoholic. It is without a doubt her best novel." ...Michael ondastje
"Barbara Gowdy is gifted with a deliciously black wit, and an ear for the quirks and tics of the unconventional. Her compassion light up even her most minor characters"…New Stateman
"Extraordinary…Heart-searcing yet unsentimental"…Scotsman Book of the Year
"A very beautiful and truthful book."…Independent on Sunday
"Here, in Gowdy's sixth book, it's those country and western stalwarts love, loss and a cheatin' heart that are given her luminous sheen. Beyond good."…Elle.