Enough About Love

Louise, an attorney, is having an affair with Thomas, who happens to be Anna's therapist, and Anna is having an affair with a famous writer Yves and she can't stop talking about him to Thomas. Sound confusing? In the capable hands of Hervé Le Tellier, author of Enough About Love, it's all surprisingly lucid. On a material level these characters live quite comfortably but emotionally their lives are void of passion. Everything changes once the affairs begin and both couples break free of their routine existences—motivated as much by the thrill of new love as the hope to reclaim the spontaneity and irresponsibility of lost youth. While this might sound like shopworn material, Le Tellier manages to invest it with verve, drama, and humor as the story jumps from couple to couple, crisis to breakthrough, in a brisk round robin of short chapters. Everyone has the baggage of their past to contend with, whether it's a suspicious spouse, or a deep wound from an earlier failed relationship. But, thankfully, Le Tellier spares us the tantrums and ugly scenes that usually crop up around such issues. Enough About Love, seamlessly translated from the French, is a refreshing novel about adult relationships that somehow feels breezy and light but is actually quite serious and beautiful.