{"id":2822,"date":"2018-01-22T10:51:42","date_gmt":"2018-01-22T10:51:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jameslawless.net\/?p=2822"},"modified":"2018-01-22T10:51:42","modified_gmt":"2018-01-22T10:51:42","slug":"much-praised-novel-for-love-of-anna-at-bargain-price-of-99-cents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jameslawless.net\/?p=2822","title":{"rendered":"Much-Praised novel For Love of Anna at bargain price of 99 cents"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\nAvailable now in most book ebook formats at https:\/\/www.smashwords.com\/books\/view\/781360 at a bargain price of 99 cents, the much-praised novel For Love of Anna.
\nIdealistic student Guido van Thool is torn between the extreme nature of his ideals and his love for the beautiful ballerina Anna Zweig. When he accidentally bumps into the beautiful ballerina Anna Zweig in Loti\u2019s caf\u00e9, it sets them off on a whirlwind romance of ballet concerts, anti-globalisation marches and love trysts in bluebell woods. Even when Guido is called away for military service, time can\u2019t test their faithfulness, as they keep their passion warm with love letters. Paralleling their lives, however, is that of Judge Jeremiah Delahyde, a profligate positioned in power by his crony, the government minister Bartholomew Smythe. These parallel lives collide on New Year\u2019s Eve when the drunken judge knocks Anna down in his car with fatal consequences. Guido swears revenge. But how does one retaliate against a corrupt and powerful, politically-appointed high court judge?
\nOpening extract:
\nGuido van Thool, blond head downcast with little round spectacles perusing a book, is about to enter the door of Loti\u2019s caf\u00e9 in the old quarter of Potence when he bumps into a girl, knocking pumps out of her hands. He apologises, picks up the pumps, lets his book fall in the process, picks it up and rising, reddens slightly, as his eyes are drawn to long shapely legs protruding from a white wool coat.
\nThe girl smiles doe-eyed, and his mind becomes suffused with the idea that he has just bumped into the most beautiful girl he ever saw, and she\u2019s about to walk away.
\n\u2018I re… really am sorry,\u2019 he hears his voice saying.
\nAnother smile, revealing the straightest, the whitest of teeth. She\u2019s moving away, turning her back, swivelling slightly, nursing the pumps in her arms.
\n\u2018Please,\u2019 he says,
\nShe turns around, shivering a little in the winter cold, waiting for Guido to speak. He\u2019s searching frantically, trying to find a word. \u2018The… the least I can do is buy you a coffee.\u2019
\n\u2018Don\u2019t drink coffee.\u2019
\nHow quick and sharp her reply. A crestfallen Guido.
\n\u2018I\u2019ve just been in there,\u2019 she says. \u2018I had to come away; it\u2019s too crowded.\u2019
\n\u2018I know Loti,\u2019 says Guido more assuredly. \u2018She\u2019ll get us a table.\u2019
\n\u2018Well…\u2019 She ponders, shaking back her long auburn hair… \u2018maybe a cranberry juice.\u2019
\nShe smiles, as the little bell tinkles when Guido opens the door. Inside the air is heady with aromas of roasting coffee beans and oven-cooking. It is a single large room with basic wooden tables covered in bright red and white tablecloths. There\u2019s a small TV on a high perch showing the head of a newscaster, his reading silenced by all the clatter, plates and voices vying with each other for dominance.
\n\u2018Ah Guido,\u2019 shouts a tall, greyblond busty woman through the steam of plates as they enter the caf\u00e9. She puts the plates, quite heaped with vegetables and potatoes and chicken legs, on the table of two salivating students, smiling indulgently at them before turning to Guido. \u2018Is Philippe not coming?\u2019 she says, wiping her hands in a beige apron.
\n\u2018I don\u2019t know. He wasn\u2019t at lectures.\u2019
\n\u2018Sit down here,\u2019 she says, clearing a table which had just been vacated near a window.
\n\u2018Sorry,\u2019 says Guido, \u2018this is…\u2019
\n\u2018Anna.\u2019
\n\u2018Ah, the word made flesh,\u2019 says Loti, and she winks, showing up her crow\u2019s feet.
\n\u2018She\u2019s strange,\u2019 Anna says, as Loti departs with their order.
\nHe notices her looking around at the walls festooned with pictures of past revolutionaries. \u2018Loti\u2019s heroes,\u2019 he says.
\n\u2018So you\u2019re Guido.\u2019
\n\u2018Guido van Thool.\u2019
\nShe concentrates on him now for the first time full face as he places his book on the side of the table and removes his spectacles, holding them nervously, she notices, with both hands on each arm, pondering perhaps where to place them, and she sees the slight eye strain, the little dint on the bridge of the nose and \u2013 approvingly \u2013 the high cheek bones set in an ascetically handsome face.
\n\u2018Anna Zweig.\u2019
\nHe feels the warmth still in her palm from her mitten which she removes as they shake hands.
\n\u2018The book,\u2019 she says looking down, breaking the awkwardness of the momentary silence.
\n\u2018I often study here.\u2019
\n\u2018With all that clatter?\u2019
\n\u2018I like the clatter.\u2019
\n\u2018What\u2019s the book anyway?\u2019
\n\u2018Nietzsche.\u2019
\n\u2018You study philosophy?\u2019
\n\u2018Yes.\u2019
\n\u2018I missed out on all of that student stuff,\u2019 she says. \u2018You must have great fun as a student, with all the demonstrations and things to keep you amused. Tell me about this Nietzsche guy. What has he got to say about the world? Let me see.\u2019
\nShe takes up the book, a shiny black paperback, with a picture of a solemn looking man with deep-set staring eyes and a huge bushy moustache obliterating his mouth. \u2018The corners of the pages,\u2019 she says, flicking through the book, \u2018they\u2019re..You…?\u2019
\n\u2018Afraid so.\u2019
\n\u2018…You eat paper?\u2019
\n\u2018Not eat, chew.\u2019
\nShe laughs. \u2018Why on earth…?\u2019
\n\u2018I don\u2019t know why,\u2019 he says dismissively, \u2018but you asked me what Nietzsche is saying about the world.\u2019
\n\u2018So I did,\u2019 she says still smiling.
\n\u2018Well, you know the obvious of course…\u2019(he waits momentarily but she does not answer)… \u2018that God is dead, that there is only this world and no world beyond it? That\u2019s why\u2026\u2019
\n\u2018Yes?\u2019 she says.
\nThe spectacles he has been holding all along \u2013 an aid for gesticulation, she thinks \u2013 he folds and places in an inside pocket of his navy parka.
\n\u2018\u2026that is why we should attempt to perfect this world if it is all we have.\u2019
\nShe looks at him quizzically. \u2018Are you for real, Guido van Thool?\u2019
\nLoti arrives with the beverages and two cream buns on a plate. \u2018On the house,\u2019 she says, \u2018for our new recruit.\u2019
\n\u2018What does she mean by recruit?\u2019 whispers Anna, as Loti moves to take an order from another table.
\n\u2018That\u2019s just Loti,\u2019 says Guido. \u2018She tries… how shall I put it? to proselytise every newcomer to the caf\u00e9.\u2019
\n\u2018Proselytise?\u2019
\n \u2018Sorry,\u2019 he says, unable to avert his gaze from the wonderful breathing shapes in her white tanktop. \u2018You see, you\u2019re in her lair. She wants to win you over, turn you into a revolutionary.\u2019
\nAnna smiles, lifting the cake to her mouth, \u2018And her method is cream buns.\u2019
\nHe laughs. \u2018She means well.\u2019
\n\u2018And you, do you try to proselytise too?\u2019
\n\u2018No, but I understand the problem.\u2019
\n\u2018The problem?\u2019
\n\u2018Yes,\u2019 says Guido, \u2018it\u2019s one of language essentially.\u2019
\n\u2018Oh really.\u2019
\n\u2018Yes. Man imposes meanings on the world to suit his own taste for survival.\u2019
\n\u2018What is that supposed to mean?\u2019 she says, scooping the cream into her mouth with her finger.
\n\u2018It means we\u2019re free agents. The world is not a universal certainty. We impose our own interpretations on the world, not through honest enquiry, but for ulterior motive, for gain, and then we pretend these interpretations are universal and…\u2019
\n\u2018Hold on,\u2019 she shouts.
\n\u2018Sorry, what I mean is…\u2019
\n\u2018What you mean is we all try to convince others that our lies are the truth.\u2019
\n\u2018Exactly,\u2019 says Guido admiringly. \u2018That\u2019s exactly it.\u2019
\n\u2018And why didn\u2019t you say that in the first place?\u2019 she says mockingly.
\nHer hand has moved towards his. Is it accidental? Long fingers, like a piano player\u2019s; nails: perfect half moons, colourless varnish, not garish like some girls\u2019 nails, he thinks. He moves his finished plate to the middle of the table, an excuse for his fingers to inch forward; little trembling touch of tips; the sensitive top of the hand; butterfly graze. She looks down, smiles, does not move her hand away. What can he say to her? He wants to ask her where she lives, what paradisal planet she comes from. Instead he says, \u2018Our lecturer says there are these forces all the time, these pressures from society, from the masters.\u2019
\n\u2018The masters?\u2019
\n\u2018Those who control us. Don\u2019t you ever feel those pressures?\u2019
\n\u2018I never thought about it,\u2019 she says.
\n\u2018I mean those who force us to chop up the world, to dissect it for capitalist ends…\u2019
\n\u2018You\u2019re not a communist?\u2019
\n\u2018No no, it\u2019s just… that\u2019s why the world has lost its equilibrium. It\u2019s all broken up.\u2019
\nShe looks seriously straight into his eyes. \u2018That\u2019s what you think then, that the world is broken up?\u2019
\n\u2018Just look at the news any night,\u2019 he says, casting his eyes in the direction of the TV. \u2018What do you see? A series of…\u2019 He stops. Why is he talking like this to her? His words were meant to impress her not to give her that serious look (that is his preserve), not to dim the dimple of her smile like a gloomy cloud pressing down on her.
\nA minute dollop of cream resting on her chin, he would love to lick, an excuse (an opportunity?) to bring his lips close to hers. Should he point out its presence? It might embarrass, especially someone you have only met. Such thoughts, however, are suddenly nullified by the spontaneous action of her tongue shooting out, sliding down her chin to scoop up, in one lightning movement (like that of a lizard, he thinks), the dollop of cream.
\n\u2018A series of?\u2019
\n\u2018Disasters.\u2019
\nDabbing her lips with her serviette, which is red and white matching the tablecloth, she says, \u2018You are a very solemn fellow, Guido van Thool.\u2019
\n\u2018Nietzsche says jokes are epitaphs on the deaths of feelings.\u2019 Why did he say that? he wonders. It just came out of his head like her tongue out of her mouth. But not really. Her action was spontaneous, his conditioned. A pedantic showing off.
\n\u2018He does, does he?\u2019
\n\u2018Yes,\u2019 says Guido (too late now to retract).
\n\u2018It\u2019s time you stopped reading Nietzsche, then.\u2019
\nHe smiles. \u2018Sorry. I\u2019m boring you.\u2019
\n\u2018No, it\u2019s all right. We all are what we are, aren\u2019t we? Besides I agree with all you say.\u2019
\n\u2018You do?\u2019
\n\u2018Yes. That\u2019s why I dance.\u2019 She throws her head back, loosening her hair. \u2018I dance away all those thoughts that are in my head.\u2019
\n\u2018You\u2019re a ballerina?\u2019
\n\u2018In the National Ballet.\u2019
\n\u2018That\u2019s wonderful,\u2019 he says.
\n\u2018It\u2019s bloody hard work.\u2019
\nShe laughs, finishing her juice, her little finger extending, Guido notices, each time she sips. \u2018I never had time for things like that.\u2019
\n\u2018Like what?\u2019
\n\u2018Speculation. It\u2019s just dedication to the one thing for me.\u2019
\nShe pauses, looks around the caf\u00e9. The windows are steamed up; she can\u2019t see out on to the street, and there\u2019s a constant traffic of people in and out the door. Loti is in the far corner in polemic with several students.
\n\u2018It\u2019s lunchtime,\u2019 says Guido, \u2018that\u2019s why it\u2019s so busy.\u2019
\nShe reaches down to her feet. \u2018You don\u2019t mind if I take off my shoe?\u2019
\n\u2018Shed all you like,\u2019 says Guido. \u2018Sorry I didn\u2019t mean…\u2019 What is he saying? He can\u2019t talk to women; he doesn\u2019t have the knack.
\nShe smiles, taking no offence. \u2018Sometimes my toes ache,\u2019 she says.
\n\u2018How long would you spend on your toes?\u2019 (Again the ambiguity. Why can\u2019t he ask a simple straightforward question?) \u2018I mean at any given time?\u2019
\n\u2018Oh hours,\u2019 she says, \u2018in rehearsals. They get blistered and cramped. I take cider vinegar.\u2019
\n\u2018Really?\u2019
\n\u2018My dentist says it\u2019ll rot my teeth, but it keeps the inflammation out of my feet\u2019
\n\u2018It sounds heroic.\u2019
\n\u2018It\u2019s just…\u2019 She grunts as she releases the shoe…\u2018if anything ever went wrong you know, I have put all my shells in the one basket.\u2019
\nGuido smiles. \u2018You mean eggs.\u2019
\n\u2018No, I mean shells,\u2019 she says almost irately. She tut tuts. \u2018But look what you\u2019ve done to me.\u2019
\n\u2018What have I done?\u2019 says Guido.
\n\u2018You\u2019ve made me all serious like yourself. I will have to lighten up those eyes,\u2019 she says smiling again, examining his face. \u2018Cobalt blue.\u2019
\n\u2018What?\u2019
\n\u2018The colour of your eyes.\u2019
\nShe looks at her watch. \u2018Got to go.\u2019
\n\u2018So soon?\u2019
\n \u2018Afraid so. Thanks for the juice and the bun, which I shouldn\u2019t have eaten by the way. If I regurgitate on stage I\u2019ll blame you.\u2019
\n\u2018Sorry I…\u2019
\nShe reaffixes her shoe and takes up her pumps. \u2018Don\u2019t look so sad Guido van Thool. It may never happen, all that gloom you forecast.\u2019 She rises from the chair. \u2018Here,\u2019 she says giving Guido a ticket, \u2018come to the ballet.\u2019
\n5\/5\u2019For Love of Anna by James Lawless is one of the finest 5 STAR pieces of writing I have read in recent years.\u2019 Deepak Menon
\nhttps:\/\/www.smashwords.com\/books\/view\/781360<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Available now in most book ebook formats at https:\/\/www.smashwords.com\/books\/view\/781360 at a bargain price of 99 cents, the much-praised novel For Love of Anna. Idealistic student Guido van Thool is torn between the extreme nature of his ideals and his love…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jameslawless.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jameslawless.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jameslawless.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jameslawless.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jameslawless.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2822"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jameslawless.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2824,"href":"https:\/\/jameslawless.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2822\/revisions\/2824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jameslawless.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jameslawless.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jameslawless.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}