If I Forget You by Christopher Allen Green

I recently indulged in a week in a cottage by the ocean, and read 5 excellent novels, one after another.  The ultimate luxury for a book lover!  One of those novels was Thomas Christopher Greene’s latest: If I Forget You.  I’ve not read Greene before (The Headmaster’s Wife) , but have watched him grow in popularity on bestseller and book lists.  The reviews looked good and the book came in just as I was leaving; I added it to my bag.

Henry Gold, Jewish, working class, from Rhode Island, is a poet and aspiring professor attending the elite Bannister College on a baseball scholarship.  Margot Fuller, privileged daughter and trust fund child of Manhattan socialites, also attends Bannister College.  The two fall in love, but circumstances and mistakes keep them apart.  Years later, Henry is a divorced father of Jess, and Margot has ended up in a loveless marriage, trying to fill her days in suburban Connecticut.  The two meet by chance in Manhattan, and reconnect.

Told in alternating points of view and bouncing back and forth between their college days and their grown up present day lives, If I Forget You is a gorgeous love story about missed opportunities, societal pressures, and second chances.  I thought it was a lovely read, light enough for vacation, but meaningful enough to continue to ponder.