Shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2006 and winner of the 2006 Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger, The History of Love explores the lasting power of the written word and the lasting power of love. Published as a Penguin Essential for the first time.
'When I was born my mother named me after every girl in a book my father gave her called The History of Love. . . '
Fourteen-year-old Alma Singer is trying to find a cure for her mother's loneliness. Believing she might discover it in an old book her mother is lovingly translating, she sets out in search of its author.
Across New York an old man called Leo Gursky is trying to survive a little bit longer. He spends his days dreaming of the love lost that sixty years ago in Poland inspired him to write a book. And although he doesn't know it yet, that book also survived: crossing oceans and generations, and changing lives. . .
'Wonderfully affecting...brilliant, touching and remarkably poised' Sunday Telegraph
'A tender tribute to human valiance. Who could be unmoved by a cast of characters whose daily battles are etched on out mind in such diamond-cut prose?' Independent on Sunday
'Devastating...one of the most passionate vindications of the written word in recent fiction. It takes one's breath away' Spectator
Nicole Krauss was born in New York in 1974. Her first novel Man Walks into a Room, to be published by Penguin in 2006, was shortlisted for the LA Times Book Award. She lives in Brooklyn.
Our Use of Cookies
We use cookies on this site to enable certain parts of the site to function and to collect information about your use of the site so that we can improve our visitors’ experience.
For more on our cookies and changing your settings click here
Strictly Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions. See More.
Analytics cookies help us to improve our website by collecting and reporting information on how you use it. These cookies may be set by us or by third-party providers whose services we have added to our pages. See More.
Preference and Feature cookies allow our website to remember choices you make, such as your language preferences and any customisations you make to pages on our website during your visit. See More.
Targeting cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you and your interests. They perform functions like preventing the same content from reappearing, ensuring ads are displayed and, in some cases, selecting content based on your interests. See More.