A valuable book to all who find love complex and multilayered...

because it is! CS Lewis has always been one of my favorite authors ever since I read The Screwtape Letters in my high school years. I went on to devour Mere Christianity, The Great Divorce, Chronicles of Narnia, and his grown-up fantasies. 

     His treatment of The Four Loves--Affection, Friendship, Eros, and Charity--are humorous, deep, Christian, and well-rounded.  He quotes Plato and Paul and modern romantic trends--at least 20th century trends.  He's now deceased, of course.

     I happened across this book on Amazon.com last week and snatched it up.  After being a Christian for 33 years and a married woman for 28, I'm still puzzled by the pull between love and romance, parental love, affection, and loyalty.  Lewis explores love in all its manifestation and nuances, acknowledging the sacred even within eros. 

     I especially recommend this for the disillusioned married person who feels that he/she has not yet found that "real" soul mate. "And all good Christian lovers know that this programme, modest as it sounds, will not be carried out except by humility, charity, and divine grace; that it is indeed the whole Christian life seen from one particular angle." There's hope here for the heart, mind, and spirit.