Slow Waltz in Cedar Bend

This was a love story written from a man's point of view, which is something I haven't had the privilege of reading before. I absolutely adored the relationship between the lead characters, Michael and Jellie. It was a quick read but very enjoyable none the less.

He sees her across a crowded room, she's married. They fight their attraction for almost a year then succumb. A few months later she runs to India, where she had spent 3 years 15 years ago. He follows her, discovers she was once married to an Indian terrorist who died and she has a daughter. They

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go back to the US, leaving the daughter in India. He has a motorbike accident. He gets better. She runs back to India. He doesn't follow her this time and she eventually comes back to him.
The End.

Not a lot of action, even the 'surprises' were well telegraphed before you got to them.

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Michael Tillman met another man's wife at a university in Cedar Bend, IA and found himself heading into the strange, exotic world of south India, looking for her. Her name was Jellie Braden, and Michael Tillman wanted her from the first time he saw her. It brought with it the pain of choices and

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loss.

Enjoyed the book, but didn't think the reaction of Jellie's husband was realistic. Husband, Jim Braden, seemed to love his wife and accept Michael and Jellie's romance much to easily.

Waller has an art for writing. You feel the emotions and savor the environment around his characters.

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Nice reading. No big deal but easy and fast. I recomend it to have a good time during a weekend.

Slow Waltz in Cedar Bend by Robert James Waller (1993)

The man is apparently good at his craft; writes well and all that.

Sample: Down the halls of the administration building he went, admiring the waxed oak floors, inhaling the vapors of incompetent power radiating from the walls and oozing from under darkened doors like smoke from a burning village

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where truth and beauty had once been found.

The main setting is a fictional college town in Iowa, with background in Custer, South Dakota, and large portions of the story taking place in India. His most descriptive writing was of India, a place I've never been, but could feel myself there in his words. He was thorough with his characters, too, but the only ones I cared for were her father and his mother; all the rest, including the main characters of the middle-aged college professor, and the wife of another professor, rubbed me the wrong way. But he seemed to save his most lavish descriptions for the sex scenes, of which there were plenty. Had I known its substance, I would not have picked up this book; adultery stories aren't my cup of tea. If that isn't something that bothers you, you may enjoy this book for its writing.

For myself, it gets a personally-didn't-care-for-it rating of 2 stars.

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Waller likes to justify adultery. The theme of both Bridges of Madison County and this novel is the dissatisfaction and stultification that sometimes a woman has in her marriage. Then, a more strong and exciting man comes along to 'awaken' her. These books probably serve as wish fulfillment for

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women in similar situations who would never dream of doing what Waller's heroines do. I don't approve of the theme, but the writing is evocative and descriptive, raising my rating of the book as a whole by quite a bit.

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Michael Tillman wasn't a foolish young man, rushing off in pursuit of intangible dreams. He was a down-to-earth, middle-aged, maverick economics professor who still rode a motorcycle that he'd had since he was a teenager. He also never believed in love at first sight, or at least he hadn't until he

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laid eyes on her...the woman of his dreams.

Her name was Jellie Braden and she was the wife of one of Michael's colleagues, someone who he met at a university in Cedar Bend, Iowa. It was actually mutual attraction at first sight between Michael and the introspective, dark-haired wife of his new colleague. It called forth feelings that just wouldn't disappear.

From the very first instant he saw her, Michael had wanted Jellie with every fiber of his being. Something deep inside had whispered, "That's the one." And Jellie Braden, in her fortieth year, had heard that voice, too.

Their feelings force these two people to come to terms with their lives in ways they hadn't imagined, and it led them both into the magical places only lovers know. But it also brought with it the pain of choices and loss. Jellie wasn't a free woman. She had secrets of her own to keep, and then one day Jellie mysteriously vanishes without an explanation.

So, a year after they met, Michael finds himself heading into the strange, exotic world of south India looking for her. He is a mature man, certain of what he wants; and he's determined to travel the world searching for Jellie to discover the secrets she was hiding and learn what he has to do to make her his...

Although this was Robert James Waller's second novel after the New York Times bestseller The Bridges of Madison County, it is the first book that I've read by this particular author. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The story was absolutely delightful in my opinion; the characters were incredibly well-developed and the story was poignant and heartwarming. I found myself really rooting for these characters, hoping that everything would work out well for them. I give this book an A+! and will certainly be looking from more from this author in the future.

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