Rating: 
Summary: Matters of the Heart
Review: This is my first reading of an Alison Lurie novel and - being that I am still reeling from the resolution of "Foreign Affairs" since its completion nearly 24 hours ago - it looks as though I will be reading more of her works. This book is like reading two separate novels, the chapters regularly flip-flopping between the two protagonists, Vinnie Miner and Fred Turner, whose only correlation is that they are both professors at Corinth University. Such sporadic story-telling has the advantage of keeping things interesting, especially in its opposing perceptions of relative characters. And equally insightful is to exist in the mind of Vinnie and then, a chapter later, to meet Vinnie through Fred's mind or vice versa...(that alone is worth the Pulitzer Prize.) The disadvantage to all this is when one becomes too intrigued with a specific storyline, the reader - not wanting to miss any little mention about the preferred protagonist - is forced to trudge through, what seems to be, an extra long chapter just to return to "the program already in progress." The humorous and, oftentimes, neurotic Vinnie Miner is a plain fifty-four-year-old woman, comfortably single, and an absolute lover of solitude. She takes delight in her excursion to England in which she does research for her novels regarding children's folklore. The solemn Fred Turner is almost a complete opposite to Vinnie; he is a handsome twenty-eight-year-old man, miserably married, and desperately seeking to be in the company of others. He despises his trip to England, and loathes the British Museum - hilariously named the "Bowel Movement" by him - where he obtains his research on the poet, John Gay. Refreshingly, each chapter opens with a blurb of either a children's rhyme for Vinnie or a couple of poetic lines of John Gay for Fred, setting the tone for the following chapter. What makes this novel complete is that both Vinnie and Fred experience a much-needed internal awakening. In keeping to its bipolar quality, the progress of Vinnie's affair is gradual as compared to Fred's fast companionship. Yet, similarily, both are blissfully self-educated in the book's conclusion, for each character does learn that in matters of "Foreign Affairs," a different country can make a different heart. This is a worthwhile read.
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