Review: A Wealth of Unsaid Words by R. Cooper

Title: A Wealth of Unsaid Words

Author: R. Cooper

Length: 112 Pages

Category: Contemporary, Holiday

At a Glance: So, it’s not December. Who cares? It’s never the wrong time to read a beautiful love story.

Reviewed By: Lisa

Blurb: Alex has always known his bipolar disorder made him too flawed for his boyhood hero, Everett. So when his feelings for Everett became overwhelming, he forced a separation that saddened them both but gave Alex the clarity he needed. Now a year has passed, and he and Everett are together again when Everett’s noisy, imperfect family reunites for Christmas, pulling Alex into their chaotic warmth the way they always have. Can Everett convince Alex that, in spite of his fears, starting a relationship would make for the perfect holiday?

Review: A Wealth of Unsaid Words was author R. Cooper’s contribution to DSP’s annual holiday Advent package back in 2011. How this gorgeous little story has managed to escape my attention all these years is beyond me. Yes, I will read Christmas stories in the middle of July and not even care.

Cooper did so many things right in this novella that it’s hard to pinpoint what I loved most about it. The fact that the author introduces the topic of mental illness in a holiday romance, and does so with candor and grace, is impressive. The fact that Alex’s Bipolar Disorder informs the entirety of the story—his relationships, his public life, and how he himself influences the dynamic of the Faraday family—without it descending the slippery slope of gratuitous narrative device, is impressive and appreciated. The fact that his Bipolar Disorder has prevented him from having a relationship with Everett Faraday, the love of Alex’s life, gives the story its emotional punch. And Alex being a poet who can’t find the words to express to Everett how much his self-imposed year apart has given him the answers he needed, is the stuff of sublime irony.

Sometimes it doesn’t take many words to tell a complete story. In fact, a story that packs this much longing and devotion into so few pages only proves that good, good things can come in small packages. I haven’t read all of this author’s work, but I have read enough to know she has the ability to create feelings with words—or, in this case, with unsaid words—and what better way to read a book than to feel it?

So, it’s not December. Who cares? It’s never the wrong time to read a beautiful love story.

You can buy A Wealth of Unsaid Words here:
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