In Love

An exquisite depiction of a doomed love affair, set in noirish 1950s New York __________ 'A little masterpiece' Elizabeth Bowen 'Moving and convincing ... a lyrical, intelligent book' Guardian 'My favorite of the Hayes novels... I have read and reread this small book as though it were a poem rather than a fiction: not a description of experience but the thing itself' Vivian Gornick, New York Review of Books __________ In a Manhattan bar, a middle-aged man tells a young woman of his love affair with a lonely divorcee; of how one night she was offered one thousand dollars to sleep with a stranger; and of how he and she would subsequently betray each other in turn. In Love is an indictment of, and an elegy to, a love affair that was doomed from the start; an exquisitely honest and painful depiction of heartbreak.

Alfred Hayes (1911-1985) was born in London and grew up in New York, where he later worked as a newspaperman. After joining the army in 1943 he served with the US forces in Italy. While in Rome he met Roberto Rossellini and Federico Fellini on the film Paisà, and began his career in script-writing. He moved to Hollywood to work in the movies and was twice nominated for an Oscar for his scripts.