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A review of Love is Where it Falls: The Story of a Passionate Friendship

by Simon Callow

A breathtakingly beautiful account of unexpected and unrequited love

Reviewed by: Helen Harvey
About Helen Harvey

Love is Where it Falls: The Story of a Passionate Friendship By his own admission, actor and writer Simon Callow is "the luvviest of the luvvies" that arrogant group of British thespians, who, donning the illustrious shoes of the likes of Gielgud and Olivier, consider themselves a cut above the riff-raff of common soap stars and the like, who dare to call themselves actors. And, a cut above, they certainly are.

Unarguably, Callow is a rare creature, possessing not only truly great acting ability, but inspired vision as a director, and a literary eloquence that can only be envied.

Heart-stopping, gut wrenching, sublime, and incredibly sad. There are not superlatives enough to described what is my favorite book of all time. Having read, what must be, thousands of titles in every conceivable genre, Callow's ability to capture my heart is no simple feat.

The book details Callow's ascent to the pinnacle of his profession, but is more concerned in interweaving the stepping stones of his career path, with the very critical role that his relationship with his play agent Peggy Ramsay had in propelling him forward.

He, a gay man, she a heterosexual, forty years his senior, Peggy was to fall deeply in love with Callow. For his part Callow deeply loved Peggy's vibrance, and irascibility. Their odd friendship played out in front of Aziz, Callow's Egyptian-Turkish lover. One feels that it was not the vast age difference that was to leave Callow and Peggy's relationship unconsummated sexually, but, quite simply, his proclivity for his own gender.

This strange ménage a trios plays out with heated jealousies, tempers, and passions, and is heartbreakingly sublime. How sad, the pathetic figure of the woman trying desperately to seduce a man that loves her, yet is not in love with her.

Click here to buy this book, or read more about it at Amazon.com: Love is Where it Falls: The Story of a Passionate Friendship

Copyright © by Helen Harvey, 2002

Reviewed by Helen Harvey:
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