Susan G. Weidener

A Portrait of Love and Honor is a love story unique in its structure in that it incorporates the memoir left behind by the author’s deceased husband. Susan Weidener has crafted a compelling novel based upon a true story. A newly-divorced, forty-something woman, Ava Stuart, meets a tall, handsome man, Jay Scioli who is in search of his direction and meaning in life. Jay has left the US Army and corporate America and is looking for an editor for his memoir about his experience as a West Point Cadet.

As the story unfolds, the couple endures one setback and crisis after another including Jay’s life-threatening illness, which all serve to forge a lasting friendship and love between them.

Through Weidener’s writing, one can sense the depth and tenderness of this love. Her words flow, smooth as silk, to reveal the complexities, realities and joys of love. The characters are believable and the pace of the story allows the reader to savor each encounter and feel engaged in the process of their developing relationship. The reader also gets a vivid glimpse into the life of a West Point Cadet.

I am an avid fan of Susan Weidener’s eloquent and engaging writing from her previous memoirs, Again in a Heartbeat and Morning at Wellington Square. A Portrait of Love and Honor is a beautiful tribute to a deep and lasting love which serves to form a trilogy to this real-life love story. For those who have not read Weidener’s memoirs, one might want to read this novel first to get an appreciation of this love in order to fully appreciate the depth of loss experienced by the author when she endures the loss of this love as portrayed in her memoirs.

I highly recommend this novel for anyone who has ever fallen in love.… (mais)