EDMONTON, Alberta, Feb. 10, 2009 — What is our place in the Universe? What is the path to truth? What are “ethics” really and why do humans feel bound to them? Is there a difference between being in love and falling in love? In the spirit of Ayn Rand’s Objectivism movement of philosophy, “Ms. Match” (published by iUniverse), by Francien Verhoeven, explores the riddle of human existence in the setting of the modern-day metropolis of Edmonton.
With a stream of consciousness style reminiscent of Joyce’s “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,” Verhoeven’s “Ms. Match” explores the inner thoughts, musings and realizations of its narrator and main character. As he winds his way through the concrete jungle of Edmonton, and by extension human existence, his perception of the world is laid bare in a continuous stream of philosophical observations. In the reader’s first introduction to the narrator, he sits on his high-rise balcony smoking and contemplating the surroundings of the modern world in which he now exists. He is listless, having only recently moved to Edmonton, and struggles to understand his place in the new and foreign setting.
As “Ms. Match” progresses, the narrator’s musings come to stand into sharper focus when he meets a receptionist named Amy. While Amy is quite a bit younger, the connection that the narrator feels seems almost instantaneous and unquestionable. After Amy’s introduction and with her help, the life of the narrator’s mind veers off into such topics as falling in love, love in general, beginnings and endings, and, ultimately, such topics as the meaning of death. The narrator struggles to understand his love, as many people do, while simultaneously coming to conclusions that the theory of evolution, as Darwin had once portrayed it, cannot be read into so linearly:
Love is the stable mechanism that keeps reason adhered. While the turbulent force of being in love is a most direct force for experiencing the opened realm, it is the more stable force of love which appears as lasting force out of the encounter. When we are in love, we spread glue around like crazy, and when all has been glued that could possibly be glued, love is to be the hardened bond. We cannot reason love into existence; it is love which keeps reason into existence.
Francien Verhoeven was born and raised in a small town in Holland. She migrated to Canada and, together with her husband at the time, raised three children on a dairy farm south-east of Edmonton, Alberta. In addition to being a writer she is also a visual artist. Once her children were grown, she turned her energies to writing. While “Ms. Match” is not her first book, it is her first published work.
iUniverse is the premier book publisher for emerging, self-published authors. For more information, please visit www.iuniverse.com.
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