This Is a Love Story

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, illness, mental illness, and pregnancy loss.

The third-person narrator describes New Yorkers’ relationships with Central Park. Everyone experiences the park differently, but many people fall in love there. One day, Abe and Jane visit the park after Jane gets chemotherapy. Jane needs rest, but they want to enjoy the park since it’s where “the most important moments of their lives have taken place” (2).

People fill the park: Some sit on benches or near fountains, some are alone, and some are couples. The park hosts almost 250 weddings each year and is a popular site for marriage proposals. Some people come for fresh air, some people are unhoused, and some people come to escape their houses. Despite everything else happening in the world outside, Central Park offers love to all.

The narrative shifts into Abe’s first-person point of view. He sits near Jane’s bed and writes as, together, they remember everything they’ve experienced over the years. They met in 1967, shortly after Abe graduated from college. He was working for his father’s business and writing fiction on the side, while