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The Avenue of Eternal Tranquillity by K.Overman-Edmiston Crumplestone Press
book review by Amber Whitman-Currier
"'Tenderness,' a divine breath cast out upon the face of the waters, touching myriad sails, gathering us in."
This book is actually two stories intertwined into one book: two couples, their lives, and the depths of their love. While a host of secondary characters populate this touching novel, the main characters are Pyotr and Yuliya and then Luke and Hannah. Their stories will intertwine throughout.
Pyotr is a student who falls in love with Yuliya who is his teacher in 1960's Russia. He is much younger then Yuliya, and their love affair is halted for a time, but when Yuliya finally comes to Pyotr, realizes that she loves him as much as he loves her, they are joined together body and soul and marry. They build wonderful memories, until Yuliya becomes very ill and suddenly dies. Pytor's world is torn apart. He struggles to live, suffering through the years without Yuliya. When he reaches his fifties, he decides life is not worth living anymore.
The second couple, Hannah and Luke, travel the railway from Beijing to Moscow, taking notes for a collaborative book. Hannah loves Luke very much, but he is married to another woman, but the landscape of their relationship will change as well. When Luke decides to leave his wife, Hannah discovers she is pregnant.
This book is among the best books I have ever read. It is touching and the language is beautiful and sensitive. The scope of love, loss, spirituality, camaraderie, family, and more is placed on the human stage. It opens a window into what it means to be a real in this chaotic world.