Shenandoah Summer

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY AUG 16, 2004

A man and a farm vie for the affections of a curvy, 40-something blonde in this Bridges of Madison County style romance by Jaffe (Thief of Words). Alyssa, a drama teacher at an exclusive private school, is married to Darryl, a priggish, balding scientist who travels a lot. They own Finally Farm, a pastorally perfect summer retreat in the Shenandoah Valley, convenient to Limespring, a sort of low-rent Yaddo for artists and writers. Alyssa spends her summers tending her horses, directing plays and throwing lavish parties for the artistic inhabitants. Into this setting, which is what northern Virginia would be if it had been designed by an ultra-liberal Walt Disney, comes Tug, a highly successful New York sculptor. Talented, ruggedly handsome and younger than the heroine, Tug has abandoned his life in New York so he can learn to sculpt realistic horses; naturally, Alyssa offers him an equine education. Naturally, too, they fall in love at first sight, and Alyssa's marriage is undermined and her possession of the ideal farm threatened. Jaffe satisfies readers' longing for upscale country charm, but he allows his fancy to roam a bit too freely ("On solstice day the sun stands still. It hesitates at the horizon, as if it's wondering, Should I head farther north tomorrow?"), embroidering this bucolic fantasy with elaborate whimsy.