One True Theory of Love: Inspired by Readers

While on a visit to Wisconsin in the summer of 2007, I spent time with some wonderful women in the Madison and Milwaukee areas who invited me to attend their book clubs to discuss Veil of Roses. As I got to know the women over the course of a few hours, I was struck by how many were in the midst of major life changes: divorces, new relationships, retirements, job switches, new empty nesters, and coping with the death of loved ones.

Change, change, change. It's inescapable, isn't it? People respond to change in a variety of ways, and the question that interests me is: Well, who are you going to become now?

Second chances can be times of great reinvention, or they can be total hell, and they don't bring with them the guarantee of a happy ending. At its heart, One True Theory of Love is a story about second chances and the courage they require.

Meet Meg Clark: Boy, Has She Got a Story for You!

Since the love of her life betrayed her, Meg has had a hard time putting into practice her Hokey-Pokey Theory of Life, which demands that you put your whole self in. What's the point of opening yourself up if your heart comes back a little more broken each time? These days, Meg and her nine-year-old son Henry are taking on the world in their own lively way, and it's enough.

Then Meg unexpectedly finds love in the form of a handsome Iranian-American who befriends her and Henry over a game of chess in a coffee shop. When Meg takes another leap of faith, she begins to discover that in order to heal you have to hurt, but most of all you have to have the courage to put your whole self in - to life, to love, to whatever comes your way.

Veil of Roses: What's an American author writing about an Iranian woman for, anyway?

Good question! My husband (of eighteen years) was born in Iran and became an expatriate at the age of ten, shortly before the government overthrow of 1979. His parents sent all five children out of the country. For a long time, they remained behind.

The momentousness of what his parents did to keep their children safe and give them a chance at happiness fully hit me only after we had kids of our own. A child doesn't get to pick where he's born. What if our kids had been born in an unstable country, or a third-world country - would I have the courage and selflessness to send them away in order that they might have a chance for a better future, like my husband's parents did? Even today, I can't answer that question.
I'm fascinated by people and the choices they make. It's what I keep coming back to in my writing. As you'll see over time, no matter what genre I write in, this seems to be what I explore - in the moment that counts, what will this person choose, and who will she become as a result?

Veil of Roses: A Novel of Heartache and Hope

In Veil of Roses, Tamila Soroush faced hard choices heroically. She thought of the children she did not yet have and asked, What sort of life do I want for them, and for myself? Hers is a story of heartache and hope, and I've never met an Iranian woman yet who didn't possess those same two qualities.