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    Love May Fail: A Novel
    Love May Fail: A Novel
    Love May Fail: A Novel
    Audiobook12 hours

    Love May Fail: A Novel

    Written by Matthew Quick

    Narrated by Cris Dukehart, Jim Meskimen, Lorna Raver Raver and

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    An aspiring feminist and underappreciated housewife embarks on an odyssey to find human decency and goodness—and her high school English teacher—in New York Times bestselling author Matthew Quick’s offbeat masterpiece, a quirky ode to love, fate, and hair metal.

    Portia Kane is having a meltdown. After escaping her ritzy Florida life and her cheating pornographer husband, she finds herself back in South Jersey, a place that remains largely unchanged from the years of her unhappy youth. Lost and alone, looking to find the goodness in the world she believes still exists, Portia sets off to save herself by saving someone else—a beloved high school English teacher who has retired after a traumatic incident.

    Will a sassy nun, an ex-heroin addict, a metal-head little boy, and her hoarder mother help or hurt her chances on this madcap quest to restore a good man’s reputation and find renewed hope in the human race? Love May Fail is a story of the great highs and lows of existence: the heartache and daring choices it takes to become the person you know (deep down) you are meant to be.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateJun 16, 2015
    ISBN9780062395412
    Author

    Matthew Quick

    Matthew Quick is the author of The Silver Linings Playbook, which was made into an Academy Award-winning film, and the young adult novels Sorta Like a Rock Star, Boy21 and Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock. His work has been translated into more than twenty languages and has received a PEN/Hemingway Award Honorable Mention, among other accolades. He is married to the novelist and pianist Alicia Bessette.

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    Reviews for Love May Fail

    4/5

    27 ratings12 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I received this book from the Goodreads Giveaway in exchange for an honest review. Loved it!! Narrated in four parts by several different broken characters it is a story about second chances and finding yourself. The storyline was bizarre at times but I loved the quirkiness this gave the book. The larger than life characters added dark humor and the manner in which Quick weaves coincidence and happenstance throughout the story is ingenious. I can see this novel being made into a movie. I look forward to reading the author's latest book, "The Good Luck of Right Now".
    • 5/5
      "Love may fail, but courtesy will prevail." Kurt Vonnegut
      Love May Fail by Matthew Quick is a very highly recommended novel about redemption, relationships, and interconnected lives. It's also, in part, about goodness, broken people, adultery, unconventional families, English teachers, religion, 80's metal bands, fate, coincidence, hoarders, drinking, paper airplanes, and closure. I loved it.

      After witnessing her wealthy pornographer and serial-cheating husband Ron's latest affair with a teenager, instead of shooting them, Portia Kane jumps on a plane, drunk, headed for South Jersey and her hoarder mother's house. On the plane Portia sits next to and profanely over-shares her woes with an elderly plucky nun before passing out. Sister Maeve wisely leaves Portia her contact information. Once in NJ, Portia is back at her mom's house, trying to avoid the piles of stuff, and drinking the diet Coke with Lime her mom has obsessively purchased just in case Portia ever visits.

      While trying to get her mom out of the house, they go to a diner where Portia meets an old high school friend, which leads to meeting her little boy, Tommy, and her brother, Chuck Bass, who secretly always had a crush on Portia. (All of them love 80's metal bands, especially Motley Crue.) When Portia tells them she wants to find their old English Teacher, Mr. Vernon, and tell him how much he meant to her, she learns that he gave up teaching and left town after a student attacked him. She plans to help/rescue Mr. Vernon because he believed in her. Although it may appear I've retold the whole plot, this is only a taste of Love May Fail. There is so much more.

      All the characters embody the Albert Camus quote Quick includes: "Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal."

      I thought Love May Fail was a delight to read. Yes, sometimes it is sad and heartbreaking, but it is also quirky and funny. These are all very real characters, broken in some ways, trying to redeem themselves. They all have lots of faults and are trying to do what they think they are supposed to do in order to become the person they are supposed to be. They are also all strangely interconnected, be it a master plan or fate, and need each other in some capacity. The novel unfolds through three characters and the letters of a fourth. Portia, Mr. Vernon, and Chuck all take up the narrative and tell us what is going on, while Sister Maeve has one short section comprised of letters she has written.

      Love May Fail is most assuredly very well written. Quick does a superb job with dialogue and the plot moves along quickly. I can concede that some readers may struggle with Portia's swearing and rants, especially at the beginning, but give the woman a chance. Think about how you would feel in her situation. And, again, all of these characters have faults, just like real people, and they are trying to do the best they can. I just love it when a novel comes together perfectly and hits all the right marks for me!

      Disclosure: I received an advanced reading copy of this book from the publisher and TLC for review purposes.
    • 4/5
      Portia is living the good life in Florida. She is married to a man who provides her with whatever her heart desires. However, it is not enough. She wants and needs more than material things from her cheating, pornography film king of a husband. He does not seem capable of change, so she leaves him, only to return home to her hoarder of a mom, who is mentally ill. While on the plane home she meets a nun that she befriends. She also goes to a diner while home and meets a classmate who then introduces Portia to her brother. Portia also embarks on a quest to save her old English teacher Mr. Vernon. This tale is told from a variety of perspectives, and finally comes together in the end. Portia lives happily ever after with Nathan and his nephew Tommy, Mr. Vernon teaches again and Ken reforms and goes off with has last affair to build schools. It is almost too good to be true, but still a very fun read.
    • 5/5
      I'd give it a 4.5 but Goodreads doesn't allow it. Made me happy.
    • 4/5
      This is by the author of Silver Linings Playbook (I did not read that book but saw the movie). I think the author is expert at creating quirky characters and relationships. Many of these characters are intertwined by odd coincidences. They are all flawed, but also have redeeming qualities. Most of the relationships are pretty believable. I thought the part about Portia's novel and the aftermath went a little too fast, and the epilogue wrapped things up a little too neatly, but it's a great read. And indeed, love may fail. But it may not.
    • 5/5
      Anything Matthew Quick writes is cause for celebration. This book is no different. In all honesty, it may be one of my favorites from him. I ADORE the characters in this quirky, offbeat, feelgood novel, and you can't help but rooting for all of them. As with Quick's other novels, this book deals with mental illness (hoarding, depression) and even throws in some opiate addiction. The story is told through the perspectives of four wildly diverse characters: Portia Kane, a recently liberated woman who had been married to a pornographer, Mr. Vernon, a former high school english teacher contemplating suicide, a zany nun who is on her deathbed and just wants to hear from her son, and Chuck Bass, an ex-heroin addict who just wants to fall in love and be an elementary teacher. All four characters find themselves intertwined, can they save themselves? Find love? Rekindle that old spark? A fantastic read and I can't wait for the next Quick novel!
    • 3/5
      Portia Kane is a woman who used to have big dreams of being a published author but is currently experiencing something akin to a mid-life crisis. We’re first introduced to her character as she hides drunk in her bedroom closet with a handgun watching her porn-producer husband cheat on her with a much, much younger woman. As sad as it sounds, Quick made this introduction memorable and hilarious, as unlikely as that seems. Deciding that going to jail for shooting her husband and his lover she dubs “Khaleesi” just isn’t worth it so she hops on a plane to head back home to her simple-minded hoarder of a mother. She has a coincidental run-in with a nun she’s seated next to on the plane at which point Portia, still drunk, spills her guts to her even going so far as to describe just how endowed her soon to be ex-husband isn’t. Coincidentally the nun is actually the mother of her favorite English teacher that changed her whole outlook on life, who just so happens to be going through his own mid-life crisis as well.Honestly, I could continue on with the various plots and coincidences (there are many of both in this tale). There are also several different POV changes: Portia of course, her English teacher Mr. Vernon, Chuck Bass (another individual left changed by Mr. Vernon and someone who has harbored a crush on Portia for the better part of two decades), and even a brief interlude to Mr. Vernon’s mother who we’re made informed by the letters she sent to her son. Portia, regardless of her protestations that “it wasn’t about the money” doesn’t ever come across as anything but a rich, privileged whiner. The flashbacks to her past and her childhood dreams should have been enough to make her a bit more tolerable, but unfortunately she never did dredge up any sympathy from me. And her showing up at her favorite English teacher’s house was more creepy than gracious. I have a favorite teacher that I recall with absolute adoration, however, I still can’t say I would ever get the urge to show up at his house unannounced declaring that I was there to “save him”. Mr. Vernon’s character was the POV most explored and was the most interesting to read about. His mother’s POV could have been left out entirely, which would have left this book minus the two dozen or so mentions of “my husband, God” which made my eye twitch just about every time. There is also a very strange and intense focus on negative reviews (it specifically mentions a bad review a published book received via Kirkus) and ultimately the impact they have on an author. Not sure what Quick was trying to say with that little tirade but I find it more than a bit funny that Kirkus didn’t actually care for Love May Fail very much.I’ve heard this is a common trend in Quick’s novels (this is my first Quick novel so I can’t speak for the rest), but faith and the belief that there’s always something to live for is the theme with this one. It’s about finding that spark in life that spurs you up over the next hurdle that life will inevitably throw your way. The idea was there with this one but the execution and the abundant coincidences left me feeling far from inspired.
    • 5/5
      Some books just grab you right away, and I can add Matthew Quick's Love May Fail to that list. It begins with a card that reads:Portia Kane, Official Member of the Human Race! This card entitles you to the ugliness and beauty, heartache and joy- the great highs and lows of existence- and everything in between. It also guarantees you the right to strive, to reach, to dream, and to become the person you know (deep down) you are meant to be. So make daring choices, work hard, enjoy the ride, and remember- you become exactly whomever you choose to be.Then we jump into the first chapter where Portia Kane is hiding in her bedroom closet with a gun, ready to catch her pornographer husband red-handed in the act of cheating on her. Portia ponders how she got there. She used to be a feminist, but as she says,"Being a feminist is so easy when you're a college freshman with enough scholarship money and financial aid to cover tuition, room and board. A woman with a clean slate. Compromises come with age." The scene between Portia and her husband, (with a very young naked woman also in the mix) is just funny and crazy and brilliantly written. My favorite line happens when Portia tells the young woman exactly what she is in for sexually with Ken, and as she is throwing her clothes into a weekend bag, she thinks, "Naked Ken watches me with his mouth hanging open, like I just invented fire." That one just had me laughing out loud.Portia gets on a plane to go home to her hoarder mother. She sits next to a nun, who offers her an ear and some vodka, even though Portia has already got a good start on getting drunk. Portia spills her guts to Sister Maeve, who is a real pistol herself. Quick creates characters with whom I connected right away.Portia's mother is clearly mentally ill, as most hoaders are, and Quick handles the character with empathy, creating a woman we care about and ache for, just as we ache for Portia having to deal with this alone her entire life as there was no father in the picture.While she is home, she wants to find the high school teacher, Mr. Nate Vernon, who gave all of his students the Human Race card, and showed Portia particular kindness in her life when she needed it. She discovers that Mr. Vernon left teaching after an incident, and she becomes determined to help him.As the story advances, Portia reconnects with a high school friend, now a single mom of a five-year-old boy. We also see what has become of Mr. Vernon, as he narrates the second part of the story. His story is moving.Fate plays a big part in the story, and as does Portia's quest to prove that Mr. Vernon was right: there is human decency and goodness in the world, and people can become whomever they choose to be.There are some plot points that may seem obvious, and then there are some that, when they come together, made me smile. Quick has put a lot into his story- faith, mental illness, family, love, friendship, a belief in yourself, and how handling things when life doesn't go your way builds your character.I absolutely adored Chuck, a man who works hard to maintain his sobriety and wants to be a teacher. He is Quick's alter ego in this novel, (Quick was a teacher) and I felt he was the most believable character.I sincerely hope that Love May Fail is turned into a movie like Quick's previous book The Silver Linings Playbook was. There is so much to love here and the characters are so strongly developed, they leapt off the page and into my heart. I give Love May Fail my highest recommendation. It's funny, sad, messy and complicated, just like life.
    • 2/5
      Matthew Quick also wrote "Silver Linings Playbook". I particularly liked the movie, so I was looking forward to this one and I was a bit disappointed. There were a couple of themes I didn't care for. Lots of references to metal rock, particularly to groups I wasn't interested when I was much younger so thy certainly didn't appeal now.. Also there's a lot about drugs in this story, not just associated with the metal days, but they also play a key part in the lives of some of the main characters. The male lead was a past user, and there are still lingering issues. Also I didn't think it was cute that a 5 year boy is being brought up on a heavy dose of Motley Crew and other bands of the era. The book was structured with four main parts, and a different character did the first person narration for each section. It worked for the first 2 or 3 but much of the last part where the two main characters are finally coming together felt leaden and rather dark to me. There were tough issues in "Silver Linings" but they were interspersed with lighter moments and a nice romance. This book starts out with our heroine, Portia, leaving Ken, her pornographer husband of several years, after watching him (from a closet with a gun in her hand) seduce a very young woman in their bedroom. And there's a dog named Camus but he jumps out a window. There's a joke in their somewhere but all it did for me was bring back memories of watching Camus' play "Suicide" in a Broadway theatre with about a dozen other patrons maybe 30 years ago. So this was all a bit too "Goth" for me.
    • 4/5
      This is a quirky but fun read. It began to run a little long for me, but still kept my interest throughout. Matthew Quick has his own particular style of writing and story telling that is fresh and inventive.
    • 3/5
      I won this book through GoodReads First-reads giveaways and in exchange for an honest reviews.I have not read other novels by Matthew Quick so I cannot base this book on his other works. I did enjoy Love May Fail. The story is of a frustrated, betrayed woman, Portia Kane who is on a quest to find goodness and validity in this world. A pseudo-feminist, Portia has taken it upon herself to find and reinvigorate her once dynamic and inspiring English teacher, Nate Vernon (now a shell of a man from a quite vicious attack by a former student).The character of Portia Kane is very hard to empathize with as the author paints her as an out of control almost unstable woman. But this is where Quick shows off his outstanding writing skills, for how else would a woman behave upon witnessing her husband with an extremely young, beautiful woman in bed. Quick gives Portia a very real human reaction when she actually contemplates killing her husband. The book's other central characters in the form of Nate Vernon and Chuck are nicely portrayed. You feel the despair and disillusionment Mr. Vernon suffers from and Quick gives Chuck a very real moment in the book which actually made me gasp. My favorite part of this work was the 3 different voices used to tell the story. Portia, Nate and Chuck each take control of the narrative giving a different perspective to the novel. Where the book fails, or shall I said over reached, was in the constant 'divine' coincidences that kept occurring. These events took away from the realism of the book and seemed to be a way for Mr. Quick to put all the pieces of this novel together. Kind of like a like a cop out.A good read for the beach.
    • 4/5
      3.5/5 Matthew Quick is the best selling author of a number of novels, including The Silver Linings Playbook and The Good Luck of Right Now.His latest novel - Love May Fail - is newly released.Portia Kane's marriage ends in spectacular fashion. Determined to save herself and perhaps find happiness - or at least solace - she heads back to her childhood home in New Jersey. Her high school English teacher Mr. Vernon was an unflinching, unfailing positive beacon in a somewhat bleak childhood. When she gets home, an old classmate gives her the bad news - Mr. Vernon was attacked by a student and gave up teaching. And Portia decides to save Mr. Vernon, just as he saved her. And maybe save herself in the process.Quick continues the quirk factor in Love May Fail - each of the players is slightly left of center in one way or another. And many of the situations they find themselves in are just as unusual. I very much enjoy quirky characters that don't play to the mainstream. But I did find Love May Fail somewhat recognizable. Quick relies on some familiar plot devices last seen in The Good Luck of Right Now, such as the church and religion, (this time it's a nun not a priest), a bar and its regulars, cancer makes an appearance again and literary references to a specific book. (Albert Camus replaces Carl Jung) And it is this somewhat familiar plot that drops this book from a fantastic read to a good read for me. I enjoyed it very much, but still there was just something that stopped me from loving it.There are four parts to the book and each has a different narrator - Portia, Mr. Vernon, Sister Maeve and Chuck (bartender and also a past student of Mr. Vernon). Initially I was quite taken by Mr. Vernon (Quick was a high school teacher and the book's prologue reveals some of his own experiences that became part of Mr.Vernon) But, although I knew I should feel sympathy for the broken Mr. Vernon, I found it hard to see past his angry disillusionment. And the same for Portia. She is the driving force of the book, but I just didn't overly like her. Her determination to save her old teacher versus helping her mother bothered me. But, as she says "not everyone can be saved." The standout characters for me were Sister Maeve, Chuck and his wee nephew Tommy. Their stories, their struggles and their journeys were the most engaging for me - and the ones I was most invested in.Faith, or if you prefer, serendipity binds the lives of every character to the others in mysterious ways. And that what if and why not is at the heart of Quick's novels - that if we let go and just go with it, things just might work out. Who's to say it couldn't happen? The cover? One of Mr. Vernon's lessons - and a pretty good one. The title? From Kurt Vonnegut's Jailbird.