The History of Love

Winner of BOMC’s Best Literary Fiction Award of 2005

Winner of the Edward Lewis Wallant Award for Jewish Fiction

The History of Love
was selected for the following Best Books of the Year lists:

Washington Post (Ten Best Books of the Year)

Amazon.com (#1 Novel of the Year)

Los Angeles Times

San Francisco Chronicle

Chicago Tribune

BookSense

Toronto Globe and Mail

Rocky Mountain News

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Newsday

More praise for Nicole Krauss and
The History of Love

“Vertiginously exciting . . . vibrantly imagined. . . . Krauss [is] a prodigious talent. . . . Beyond the vigorous whiplash that keeps Ms. Krauss’s
The History of Love
moving (and keeps its reader off balance until a stunning finale), this novel is tightly packed with ingenious asides. . . . Even at their most oddball, these flourishes reflect the deep, surprising wisdom that gives this novel its ultimate heft. . . . Krauss’s work is illuminated by the warmth and delicacy of her prose.”

—Janet Maslin,
New York Times

“The novel’s achievement is precisely this: to have made a new fiction—alternately delightful and hilarious and deeply affecting.”

—Claire Messud,
LA Weekly

“
The History of Love
is a significant novel, genuinely one of the year’s best. . . . Emotionally wrenching yet intellectually rigorous, idea-driven but with indelible characters and true suspense.”

—
New York

“Confirms the depth and breadth of [Krauss’s] talent.”

—
Vogue

“Devastating. . . . One of the most passionate vindications of the written word in recent fiction. It takes one’s breath away.”

—
Spectator

“Even in moments of startling peculiarity, [Krauss] touches the most common elements of the heart. In the final pages, the fractured stories of
The History of Love
fall together like a desperate embrace.”

—Ron Charles,
Washington Post

“A witty, emotional and ambitiously literary work . . . populated with sharp, deeply sympathetic characters.”

—
Rolling Stone

“Wonderful and haunting . . . deftly layered. . . . Its mysteries are intricate and absorbing and its characters unforgettable. . . . Not quite a thriller, not exactly a coming-of-age story, nor a Holocaust memoir,
The History of Love
manages to be all three and also something more: a breathtaking meditation on loss and love. It’s the sort of book that makes life bearable after all.”

—
Miami Herald

“Moving and virtuosic.”

—
San Francisco Chronicle

“[Krauss] reveals the characteristics of humanity that transcend time and the experience of living. . . . The characters are compelling and true, and the reader will come through the book not just caring about but wanting to heal them.”

—
Denver Post

“
The History of Love
has perfect pitch and does its dance of time between contemporary New York and the wanderings of the Jews with unsentimental but heart-breaking grace. [Krauss] also happens to write like an angel.”

—Simon Schama,
Guardian

“Astounding, moving, very funny . . . a joy to read. Leo Gursky is brilliantly drawn.”

—
Times Literary Supplement

“When Nicole Krauss published her first novel,
Man Walks Into a Room
, at age 27, reviewers described her as a young writer burning with promise. Three years later, she seems to have proved them right . . . one of the most highly anticipated literary novels of the spring.”

—
Wall Street Journal

“A beautifully constructed, frequently funny and ultimately moving tale . . .
The History of Love
unspools a number of disparate story lines—about a lonely Polish immigrant, a teenage girl, a grieving widow—and then delightfully pulls them together into a striking coherence.”

—
Time Out New York

“An accomplished acrobatic feat.”

—
Boston Sunday Globe

“Extraordinary. . . .
The History of Love
is a complex, funny, sad, elegantly constructed meditation on the power of love, language and imagination. . . . Krauss’s beautifully imagined characters are funny, rueful, smart and sometimes almost unbearably poignant.”

—
Seattle Times

“[A] breathtaking sophomore novel. . . . Luminous. . . . Krauss is a masterful storyteller . . . of astonishing breadth. . . . With luck, Krauss has many decades ahead of sculpting deliciously witty, complicated novels. Let’s hope she does.”

—
Cleveland Plain Dealer

“A tender tribute to human valiance. Who could be unmoved by a cast of characters whose daily battles are etched on our mind in such diamond-cut prose?”

—
Independent on Sunday

“
The History of Love
by Nicole Krauss . . . is a novel to remind you of the power of fiction—funny and sad and devastating and hopeful often all at the same time.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“Brilliant. . . . A most unusual and original piece of fiction—and not to be missed.”

—
Kirkus Reviews

“A literary riddle by a deft and canny young novelist.”

—
O Magazine

“Captivating. . . . Krauss writes superbly.”

—
Houston Chronicle

“Krauss has an impressive imagination and considerable talent . . . a memorable feat of storytelling, fine prose and heartbreakingly real characters.”

—
Minneapolis Star-Tribune

“[
The History of Love
] has all the components of enduring fiction: an idiosyncratic structure, a wise and searching voice, a series of embedded incidents that read like mystery.”

—
Chicago Tribune

“Big, bold, twist-your-heart sad, kick-your-heels joyful—Nicole Krauss’s brilliant novel is as deep and multifaceted as love itself.”

—
Marie Claire

“Krauss’s writing is so engrossing, at once so fragile and brittle and sharp and pulsing with life, and the voices she creates are so real, that we are quickly absorbed into this mournful yet ultimately life-affirming novel. . . . Krauss has created a satisfying, fascinating work of fiction that is at once funny, poetic and mysterious. And in Leo Gursky, she has created a character that hobbles off the page and sits on the park bench next to you.”

—
San Antonio Express-News

“A bold, exquisite writer with amazing vision and depth. She is a risk-taker and a breathtaking prose stylist. . . .
The History of Love
defies the facile. It is an experience.”

—
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Krauss’s novel is bursting with colorful characters, suspense, true love, and tenderness.”

—
Booksense
Picks, #1 Pick

“It’s hard not to care about these characters because they are painted with such tenderness and truth.”

—
Rocky Mountain News

“Breathtaking. . . .

—
Times-Picayune
, New Orleans

“Deeply moving . . . irresistible. . . . [Krauss] refuses to hold anything back.”

—Ruth Franklin,
The New Republic

“In her graceful inquiry into the interplay between life and literature, Krauss is winsome, funny, and affecting.”

—
Booklist

“Believe the hype.
The History of Love
is one of the most imaginative and engaging pieces of literary fiction of the past year (at least!).

—
Mostlyfiction.com

“Poignant, imaginative, funny and even suspenseful. . . . A book that will steal your heart.”

—
Arizona Republic