Review by Dave Manny -- Geraldine by Edmund M Aristone

[Dave Manny]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Geraldine" by Edmund M Aristone.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Geraldine by Edmund Aristone is a romantic novel about a guy named Tom and a woman named Geraldine. Tom was in his last year of residency as a doctor and was suspended for an incident that occurred between him and a chief resident of the hospital. During his suspension, he began working at a bar and started developing a drinking habit. His girlfriend, Paula, became fed up with his change in attitude and decided to move on. She then invites him to one of her work functions where he is introduced to the beautiful Geraldine who is an accomplished artist. The story develops into a long, drawn out romance with lots of drama and strange occurrences.

Geraldine is very beautiful and kind but she is not the perfect heroine as she has a medical condition that requires balance in her life. This is achieved by the use of drugs and close monitoring of her behaviour, but the drugs affect her painting and makes her feel less that herself. Fortunately, as Tom was in the medical profession and his deceased mother was a doctor, he has the resources and the knowledge needed to treat Geraldine's illness.

I loved the romantic line Tom told Geraldine while trying to comfort her "I would walk in front of a thousand buses to save you". However, there were many things I did not enjoy about this novel, the character, Tom, was not very likable throughout the book, he was portrayed as physically abusive to at least two people, and verbally and emotionally abusive to Geraldine. Additionally, I kept wondering why Geraldine was drinking alcohol with her medical condition as alcohol causes depression and other mood swings. Tom had a tendency to hold on to past tragedies and bring up the issue when it was uncalled for, such as discussing a prior incident involving the death of a friend with Mona so that Mona could comfort Geraldine. I don't think Geraldine was even thinking about the issue at the time because she was anticipating a surprise, but Tom needed a reason to waylay Mona so I felt that he threw Geraldine under the bus in that instance as a distraction technique.

I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars as I did not enjoy the way the story was told. I did not fall in love with the main character,Tom, I felt that Tom was not a genuinely nice person when he met Geraldine. The first time they were alone together, she was telling him about an incident that occurred during that day that made her sad and instead of giving her comfort, he asks to see her again. This was then compounded when, on their second date, at her place of work, he was rude to her for an imagined slight. After that incident, I was confused about him being the best fit for Geraldine since she was soft and caring and in need of someone who would treat her gently. when Geraldine complains to Tom of feeling a dark shadow about her, Tom dismisses the comment without acknowledging the statement. Coming down to the end of the book, I got a little confused as the story changed suddenly from waiting for Geraldine to return, to a celebration but the transition was later explained. The way in which it was done was unconventional.

This book is suitable for young adults and adults as there were no graphic sexual content but there was incidents of violence and swear words.

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Geraldine
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