The Lover's Dictionary

An unnamed narrator tries to tell the story of a relationship, and he does it in an unusual form: a dictionary. Each entry is a single word, defined through a moment shared with his lover. The book opens on the word basis, with the early doubt over whether he loves the person or only the feeling of being in love.

The entries are short and arrive out of chronological order. Large events sit beside small daily irritations and habits, so the couple's life is pieced together from fragments rather than told as a straight run of scenes.

The book asks how anyone puts love into words, when it can be ordinary and overwhelming at once, and the alphabetical structure is the narrator's answer. It is a contemporary love story told from inside one couple, in a first-person voice that stays intimate and personal.

Reading it is quick and quiet. Each entry takes a minute or two, so it suits short sittings, and the mood runs from tender and wry to deeply felt.