About the Book:

A blind man yearns to see the face of his wife of thirty years. A divorced mother has a secret love affair with a priest. A geologist discovers a three-minute video recorded by his wife before she died. A tree lopper’s heart falls in a forest. A working mum contemplates taking photographs of her late husband down from her fridge. A girl writes a last letter to the man she loves most, then sets it on fire. A palliative care nurse helps a dying woman converse with the angel at the end of her bed. A renowned 100-year-old scientist ponders the one great earthly puzzle he was never able to solve: ‘What is love?’

Endless stories. Human stories. Love stories.

Inspired by a personal moment of profound love and generosity, Trent Dalton, bestselling author and one of Australia’s finest journalists, spent two months in 2021 speaking to people from all walks of life, asking them one simple and direct question: ‘Can you please tell me a love story?’ The result is an immensely warm, poignant, funny and moving book about love in all its guises, including observations, reflections and stories of people falling into love, falling out of love, and never letting go of the loved ones in their hearts. A heartfelt, deep, wise and tingly tribute to the greatest thing we will never understand and the only thing we will ever really need: love.

Published by HarperCollins Publishers Australia

Released 27^th October 2021

My Thoughts:

Love Stories is the book I never knew I needed until I started to read it. There’s a television series on Amazon Prime called Modern Love, stories of love based on an essay series that originally appeared in the NY Times. Real love stories written by real people. I feel like Trent Dalton has given us an Australian version of this all wrapped up in a gorgeous rose-coloured cloth bound gold embossed book that reads as beautifully as it looks.

I can’t tell you how cathartic reading this book has been for me. I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling the weight of this no end in sight pandemic. Fear has made us all so divided. The vaccinated against the anti-vaxxers; the masked against the unmasked; us against them; me against you – it doesn’t stop, this general all-pervading vibe that if someone doesn’t agree with your stance on something then they are an idiot. It’s easy to forget that we are all people who have things we care about, things we are scared of, things we believe strongly in, things that confuse us. This book brings that back into focus. The things that connect us all at a time when we (*me) need to be reminded about what we have in common, as opposed to why we think we hate each other. I so appreciate the intent of this book, the timing of its publication, and the sheer bloody truth of it. Trent Dalton you are a legend.

☕☕☕☕☕