The History of Love by Nicole Krauss - Summary

Leopold Gursky is old. He lives in New York but he is originally from Poland/Russia. In the third person we learn that the woman he loved left for America before the war, had his child and married another man when he didn't return her letters because of the war. The child grew up not knowing the protagonist and to be a writer. In America he had a locksmith business with his cousin which he inherited when the cousin died.

He goes to nude model for a drawing class. Some time later, a man calls him in the middle of the night to unlock his door.

My Mother's Sadness

Alma is the narrator (speaker?) here. It changes abruptly. This section is organized in brief chapters. Her younger brother Bird is a very unique individual, prone to fantasizing and depressed and practices his own unique brand of Jewish mysticism. Her father is dead and Israeli and her English mother met him at a kibbutz. He gave Alma's mother a book called The History of Love.

Alma is fifteen. She is named after a character in the book A History of Love. Her mother went to Oxford but then dropped out to live with her father in Tel Aviv. Her father gave her a Spanish book which she was unable to read. When she was six her father was diagnosed with cancer and died. Her mother became overly attached to Alma. She doesn't date and alma takes matters into her own hands by setting her up.

Alma becomes interested in survival like her father was.

Her mother gets a letter from Jacob Marcus in Venice asking her to translate Zvi Litvinoff's book The History of Love from Spanish. It becomes apparent that the Spanish book Alma's father gave her mother is The History of Love. Alma considers meddling and setting Jacob up with her mother but thinks better of it.

Excerpts from the history of love: about undying love; chapter ten – about fulfilling an unrequited crush. Alma reads this from her mother's manuscript (the first part she was read as a child). Alma fabricates a letter for Jacob from her mother.

Forgive Me

Rosa Litvinoff, wife of the author of the History of Love, met him in Valparaiso. This chapter relates the history of the book and some facts about Rosa and Zvi, the book's publication and how Alma's father David Singer came across it in Chile. Third person

A Joy Forever

Leo is the narrator, first person. He finds out his son died. He gets a new suit at Bloomingdale's and makes a rip in the collar. He goes home and drinks and wakes up and goes to the service and misses it. Afterwards he talks with Bernard, Isaac's brother. His mother (Alma I guess) is dead. Bernard takes him to his house after he says he is a relative/knew his mother in Slonim. He steals a photo of Alma (maybe Leo is in it too?) and goes back to his place, which looks like it has been burglarized but it is only Bruno's doing who has made a cake. Someone has returned the manuscript to Leo.

My Father's Tent

Alma's speaking. Arranged in small chapters. Stuff about her parents. They went to Eilat for Alma's Bat-Mitzvah. She had a penpal from Russia whose friend Misha went to America. She began corresponding with him and after a while she met him at his Bar-Mitzvah. She got to be good friends with him.

She gets a response from Jacob Marcus to her letter. He seems to be a retired sick old man. She doesn't get it and wants to investigate. She decides the answers are in A History of Love and prints what her mother has translated without her permission. She reads it and it makes her think of her parents' relationship and its connection to

The History of Love.

She writes down clues to help her figure out things about Marcus. In the book though all names are Spanish Alma's last name is Polish – Mereminski. She decides to look for Alma.

The Trouble with Thinking

Third person narrator. Zvi Litvinoff was an obit journalist. He met Leo and liked him and was jealous of his talent but also admired him greatly.

Until the Writing Hand Hurts

Leo is the narrator. It seems that the envelope he has gotten contains the history of love. All the names are changed from Polish and Russian to Spanish. He is in disbelief and shaken. He goes to the library to see if he is a published author but finds nothing by his name. He remembers how his obsession with death begins – by being left alone with his uncle's corpse. Meeting Alma reversed that, and gave him positivity. He remembers his first meeting with her and how wonderful loving her became. He remembers gaining increasing pride in his work as a locksmith. He once broke into Carnegie Hall, just for the sake of it.

He gets back home and Bruno is sitting in the dark, having read the history of love. Leo remembers that Bruno and he fought over alma's love and competed over who was the better reader.

Flood

Alma's narration, chapter organization.

Alma looks for Alma Mereminski on the internet and doesn't find her. Uncle Julian comes to stay with the Singers and takes Bird and Alma to MOMA.

Misha and Alma meet. They discuss the book on coney island. They go back to his apartment. Another day they again discuss the book. Alma figures Alma came to America. Boris is skeptical. Alma is supposed to be finding out about marcus but wants to find about her own past, so alma. Misha and Alma kiss but then she lies that she likes someone else.

The two don't speak for weeks. Alma goes to the library to read a book that Marcus mentioned in a letter. She goes to the municipal archives but two hours later realizes that deaths after 1948 are in another building. She calls Misha and he's dating another girl. She goes to the death record room.

Uncle Julian wakes her up in the middle of the night and asks what she wants to be when she grows up. She says a painter.

Alma finds Bird's notebook where he thinks he's a lamed vovnik and that there will be a flood. He is building an ark. He is saving up with his lemonade stand to go to Israel.

Here We Are Together

Third person narrator. About Litvinoff.

Litvinoff was given a package by Leo. Litvinoff travels from spain to Lisbon to Chile. Only after he gets a steady job as a pharmacist he unpacks and sees the package. He works to get his sister Miriam to Chile and listens to news about nazi germany. He is sad and isolated. A rumor gets out that he is a poet and he embraces it. He is hired to teach at the Jewish days school. He learns that his family was killed in the holocaust. He sits at a café and reads partly out of duty to the poet rumors and he also grows to like redaing. Rosa becomes interested in him and he is amazed. They kiss and he is amazed. He becomes skeptical. He decides to steal Leo's book and his conscience burns.

Die Laughing

Leo narrates. Bruno accompanies him to the train station and leo catches a train to Isaacs house to get the new manuscript. He takes a cab from the train station. He knocks the door and nobody answers so he picks the lock. He goes around and looks at stuff. He finds no sign of his book.

If Not, Not

Alma is the protagonist, first person. She goes to the marriage archives and finds that Alma married Mordechai Mortitz, Isaac's adoptive father. She goes to Alma's apartment and finds out she's dead. The doorman tells her she can leave a message for alma's son Isaac.

Julian takes Alma out for dinner and she brings up his lover Flo and they discuss Alma's parents. When she gets back her mother tells her she sent the chapters to Jacob herself, meaning Alma couldn't forge another letter to Jacob, and Alma decides to give up the quest for a partner for her mother. Bird and Alma sleep in the same room and Bird pees his pants. Julian leaves, and gives Alma as a present a drawing class.

The Last Page

Zvi is the focalizer, third person.

He begins to copy down Leo's story, with no thoughts of plagiarizing or of pleasing Rosa. He changes the names from Polish to Spanish but not Alma's. Leo's and Alma's love makes him feel like he hasn't got anything of value.

He copies Chapter 18 of the history of love which is about angels. He buries the manuscript but it plagues him so he locks it up in a drawer of his desk. Zvi gets sick and wants to confess but chickens out and dies, his secret buried with him. He gives the book to a publisher and makes some requested changes. He adds the obit leo wrote for himself as the 39^th chapter.

Turns out Rosa knew that Zvi wasn't the original author. Zvi received a letter from Leo that Rosa read that mentioned the manuscript. Also she saw a few pages in the drawer with Leo's handwriting. She's shocked but writes a letter to Leo claiming that the manuscript was destroyed in a flood. Then she floods her house, making sure that the Yiddish manuscripts, original and copied, are destroyed.

My Life Underwater

Alma's narration

Her mother becomes distant after Julian leaves. Alma goes to a drawing class which turns out to be a nude model drawing class (described as similar to where Leo went). It's Alma's birthday and Bird gives her a life jacket (for the flood). She goes to the library and finds out that Jacob Marcus is the name of the protagonist of Isaac Mortiz's most famous book. She tells Bird to be normal and he points out she has no friends either. Misha won't return her calls.

She gets Herman, the lewd smelly boy from down the street to give her a ride to conneticut, where Isaac's house is. They bond. They kiss. Isaac isn't home so she leaves her number on his door.

One Nice Thing

Bird's journal, first person, his narration

His shrink told him to write a journal so he is. Mr. Goldstein, the caretaker at the Hebrew school whose job is also to bury Hebrew sacred texts tells him lamed vovniks should be humble and secret and Bird is ashamed that he hasn't been. Mr. Goldstein gets sick. Bird gets an idea to help someone in secret so that Mr. Goldstein might get better and also to prove that Bird is a lamed vovnik after all.

The Last Time I Saw You

First person Leo's narration

Leo refuses to get out of bed. Bruno comes helps clean around him. He informs Leo his name is in a magazine, the magazine that Leo subscribes to because Isaac occasionally published there. He finds that the novel that he wrote was attributed to Isaac Moritz. He calls up the magazine and informs them of their mistake. Parts of the book are published in the magazine, with edits (which I think Leo guesses Isaac made). Which means that Isaac knew the truth – that he was Leo's son. He goes to the mailbox and finds a letter telling him to come to the central park zoo at a certain time.

Would a Lamed Vovnik Do This

Bird's diary

Bird snoops in Alma's survival notebook to find clues about the person alma is searching for, which he knows about from a call from Misha. He finds the names Alma Mereminski and Alma Moritz in the notebook and imagines they are her father. He resolves to help her find her father. He snoops in her survival backpack and finds pages of the history of love. Then Bernard Moritz calls for Alma (I guess because he found the number she left on Isaac's front door). He tells Bird that Isaac "got into his head that the man who was his real father was the author of a book called The History of Love." And that he was calling from the note that alma left. Also that they found love letters from Leopold Gursky to Alma which contained parts of the history of love.

Bird still assumes this has to do with Alma's father. He finds Leo's address in the book. He prints out the history of love.

A + L

Alma's narration alternating with Leo's

Alma is sitting on a park bench waiting. So is Leo. Alma is half expecting Misha and Leo is expecting the original Alma. They ponder things.

Nicole Krauss