This Is a Love Story

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

Abe is married to Jane and is one of the protagonists and narrators of the novel. The chapters marked with his first name are written from his first-person point of view. These sections trace episodes from Abe’s life as he sits with his wife, Jane, and remembers their life together. For this reason, Soffer incorporates direct address into his account, with Abe speaking immediately to Jane as he tries to incorporate her experiences into his own. His narrative perspective is meant to simultaneously capture Memory as a Form of Intimacy and Connection, embody his desire to memorialize his and Jane’s love, enact his life as a writer (he’s actively recording their memories in the narrative present), and provide insight into his interiority and past.

Abe’s character arc is entangled with Jane’s because of how she has influenced him throughout their relationship and marriage. Her impact on him is particularly resonant in the context of his writing career. At the start of their relationship, Abe regarded writing more as a hobby than a career or extension of his identity.