True Love Is My Country

Book excerpt: Rose Bretano’s world has fallen apart. Not only does her boyfriend leave, but the pillars of her working world also crumble. Unexpectedly gifted with a temporary, out-of-the-ordinary love experience, Rose’s life takes a twist. She sets out to find meaning, not aware that her life has become a microcosm of a world in transition. Caught in a tug-of-war between her old world and a new one, she faces the ups and downs of a pioneer. When the pull threatens to tear her apart, Rose exiles herself from democracy. Leaving Germany for England, she spends happy years as a writer, but then her money runs out. Cut short from her life as an artist and unable to merge back to her old life, she’s confronted with a devastating decision. Jeff Wagner, a good-looking American, who’s divorced, a thwarted poet and journalist, crosses her path and tries to liberate Rose from her fate. She refuses, but leaves him her manuscript with the words, “Read, and if you still think you can help, come back!” On a quest to find the key to Rose’s heart, Jeff must first confront his own past. “True liberation for women implies the liberation of men,” he reads. It dawns on him that Rose’s betterment requires his own evolution. Can he live up to the hopes of a woman equipped with a road map for the future? And, will he agree to the changing role for men in the dawning era of women?