Throughout the course of this magnificent novel, my heart brimmed with love for: a lonely but charming old man (Leopold Gursky), a resilient and bighearted girl (Alma Singer), and humankind in general. A book Leo wrote— and hid away—as a young man in Poland plays a significant role in The History of Love, tying the characters and story lines together, all culminating in a gorgeous tearjerker of an ending that will bolster even the most jaded soul's faith in the power of love, words, and the act of remembering.