"When a strong feeling is accompanied by a dear image that is imprinted on his mind, the years that pass do not erase them."
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Yearning by Marcel Arieli Trafford Publishing
book review by Mihir Shah
With hope, one continues to trudge along toward his destination, regardless of the likelihood that the individual actually reaches his end goal. In Marcel Arieli's Yearning, a collection of six short stories, hope permeates the characters' lives. While the compilation includes the traditional tale of romantic yearning, Arieli portrays yearning in various manners. Yearning, for example, is the desire of two innocent childhood friends to reunite despite a decade of separation. Yearning challenges readers to recognize and embrace the different forms of love, including, but not limited to the caring love of a father toward his daughters—although the short story "Escort" doesn't quite glorify the role of the older male—and a man's pining for another's love. In "Reflection of the Soul," thirty-two year-old Eilee's unrequited desire for love leads her to embrace the next person who treats her with dignity and love.
Arieli essentially explores the idea of forcefully looking for love or naturally allowing love to enter your life. Yearning is filled with intriguing characters and a slew of storylines, headlined by neighbors-turned-assassins and an unexpected, perhaps life-saving mountain encounter with a guide. "The Good Neighbor" juxtaposes animals' ability to love with the love of two police officers. In the same story, readers witness two shades of a cold-blooded killer who slides through society as a good, dog-walking neighbor. All six of Arieli's stories offer unique perspective on aspects of life that are too often shunned as unrealistic, untouchable, or the vice of society. Nevertheless, hope emerges victorious at the conclusion of each of these must-read short stories.